MINDEN - Nineteen-year-old Thomas Robert Soria Jr., saying he "will never be forgiven," was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of 9-year-old Krystal Steadman.
Sighs of relief and "Yes" could be heard coming from Krystal's relatives seated in the second row of the courtroom as Douglas County District Judge David R. Gamble read the sentence.
The South Lake Tahoe girl died March 19 after disappearing from the parking lot of a Stateline apartment building. Her body was found the next day. Authorities say her throat had been cut and she had been sexually abused.
Before he was sentenced, Soria Jr. turned and spoke to Krystal' s relatives.
"I have just a few things I'd like to say," he said. "I'd like to apologize to the entire family of the Steadmans and their relatives.
"Every day I will hold this burden on my shoulders. It will be on my conscience the rest of my life. It was a very big mistake to say the least. I realize that I will never be forgiven for what I've done."
Soria Jr.'s lawyers argued their client deserved a chance at parole because he was sexually abused by his father.
They alleged that Soria's father, Thomas Robert Soria Sr., who is also charged with the murder of Krystal, sexually abused his son since the age of 6, creating a dysfunctional relationship that eventually led to Krystal's murder.
"The issue of Mr. Soria's upbringing is an important one in this case," Judge Gamble said. "So we have a young man at the age of 19 with certainly a skewed set of values, but Mr. Soria knew full well the rightness and wrongness of his acts."
Defense lawyers played a videotaped interview between Soria Jr., who is nicknamed T.J., and an FBI agent who specializes in investigating child abuse.
Soria Jr. told the agent he made an effort to find young girls for his father to have sex with, and at times they shared sexual partners. He claimed his father once let him have sex with his stepmother, and often his father had sex with his girlfriends.
Defense attorney Tod Young argued that Soria Sr. "sexually trained his son" from a young age, but that Soria Jr. never thought his father's sexual abuse would lead to murder.
"The notion of 'go get me a girl' was never 'let's find me someone to murder,' " Young said. "It has consistently been all about his father's sexual needs. T.J.'s whole life has been about his father."
The defense argued that a small amount of Soria Jr.'s semen found on Krystal's underwear did not prove he participated in the sexual assault of Krystal. Soria Jr. reportedly told his attorneys that he masturbated in the room next to his father's bedroom, and when he disposed of her body "as a favor" for his father some of his semen got on her underwear.
Gamble ruled the crimes Soria Jr. pleaded guilty to - kidnapping and murder - were sexually motivated, which means Nevada will treat him as a sex offender.
"It was a very emotional day," said court-appointed defense lawyer Mark Jackson. "I think the judge did take the abuse into consideration. It was weighed by the court. Unfortunately a 9-year-old girl was kidnapped, raped and murdered and I think that ultimately determined the sentence."
Krystal's father, sister and grandfather spoke about the loss of Krystal before the judge passed sentence. At one point the grandfather read a letter written by Betty Steadman, Krystal's mother.
"My life revolved around Krystal," she wrote. "She was my center, my crystal light. He took Krystal knowing she would be silenced. A child of 9 kidnapped, raped and murdered - why? I have been in a state of shock and my life is in chaos."
Krystal was last seen March 19 playing with Soria Jr. outside of Lake Park Apartments on Kahle Drive in Stateline while her mother was inside an apartment helping a friend.
Deputy District Attorney Thomas Perkins said Monday that Soria Jr. ran to his father's apartment to tell him that he had found a girl for him.
Soria Jr., an employee of Lake Tahoe Boys and Girls Club, which has a satellite site at Lake Park apartments, reportedly told prosecutors that he offered Krystal candy to get her into his father's apartment.
Betty Steadman last saw her daughter when she came back to get a jacket from her. She became alarmed at 2:30 p.m. when she found her daughter's coat on top of a car outside the apartment complex, but could not find her daughter and went to Soria's apartment to look for her.
Soria Jr. let Betty inside but did not allow her to look in one of the apartment's bedrooms.
At 4 p.m. Soria Jr. was seen leaving the apartment complex and told investigators that he had gone for a drive after getting into an argument with his father. He fell under suspicion when he returned at 7 p.m. and told investigators he did not know what happened to Krystal.
More than 70 law enforcement officers searched for the girl until 3 a.m.
Authorities arrested Soria Jr. the next morning three hours after Krystal's body, with her throat cut, was found down an embankment off Highway 50 and Clear Creek Road, about two miles west of Carson City.
Investigators said they were led to the body by a woman who saw a man throw something that looked like a pillowcase over the edge of the highway about three hours after Steadman disappeared.
Douglas County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Soria Sr. because of aggravating circumstances that include torture, sexual abuse and the age of the victim.
Soria Sr.'s defense attorneys have filed a motion to remove the possibility of a death sentence.
Gamble said jury selection for Soria Sr.'s trial will begin Jan. 17, 2001. Soria Sr. will participate in a second trial later in 2001 for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.
