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WWE star Sonya Deville testified this afternoon in Tampa, Florida at a pre-trial hearing for Phillip Arnold Thomas II, who was arrested in Sonya Deville's Florida home early Sunday morning. Thomas has been charged with Aggravated Stalking, Armed Burglary of a Dwelling, Attempted Armed Kidnapping, and Criminal Mischief. He has been assigned a public defender and invoked his fifth amendment right to remain silent.
Thomas was not present in the court room but was seen via video monitor from another room, where he was handcuffed and alone. This hearing was to determine whether Thomas would be held without bail prior to his trial.
Deville recounted that the evening Thomas invaded her home, she was sleeping in her master bedroom when her alarm went off. Mandy Rose was sleeping in the guest bedroom and Deville woke her up to tell her the alarm went off, then turned off the alarm and entered her kitchen, turning on the lights. She looked outside a sliding door that she usually used to enter the house and saw a man dressed in black wearing a mask outside. She asked him, "What the f*** are you doing?" but he just looked at her, with a deadpan expression on his face, and approached.
At that point, Deville knew he wasn't trying to rob or burglarize the home, but instead was there for her. She ran out of the kitchen to the guest room, grabbed Rose and they ran to the garage with Rose's cell phone and car keys. The garage was down the hallway from the guest bedroom, so if they went the other way, they'd have run back towards the intruder. Deville jumped in Rose's car to drive but couldn't get it to to start because she was so freaked that her foot was on the ignition, not the brake. Rose was able to press the manual start button so the engine revved and they pulled out and drove through the neighborhood as Rose called 911.
They returned to the house after they were advised a deputy had arrived. The deputy asked them to wait and when backup arrived, the authorities entered the home through the garage and returned several minutes later with the suspect, who Deville identified as the same man she saw and the same man who was seen on the video monitor.
Deville testified that the man had never had permission to enter her home and that she had no communication with him before the night he invaded her home.
They showed video footage of the incident, which saw Deville looking through her doors and then running out of the kitchen. A man dressed in black entered the house and followed the same path, exiting out the same kitchen door Deville fled through.
During her appearance, Deville was presented with photos of items that were not in her home until Thomas broke in.
Deville was then asked about checking her Instagram messages after authorities gave her Thomas' name. In searching his name, she testified that she found hundreds of messages from him threatening her life, the life of her baby niece and threatened to decapitate her ex-girlfriend. She testified that he also threatened to sexually assault her and that the messages were sent over a period of many, many months. He sent messages under his first name using his own face as a picture, a second account using the name "Phil" with no photo and a third account using another name.
Deville stated that the last message she received came shortly before he invaded her home and stated that she should look outside because he was at her pool and he was going to "kill that b**ch" who was with her. Deville was then presented with copies of the messages, which she said she recognized. Thomas' attorney tried to object that the messages could not connect the defendant but the State argued that the last message placed Thomas at the scene of the crime and that further testimony from a detective could link those together. One of the messages specifically noted Deville's home address, which also strengthened the State's claim.
The Judge began reading through messages so they were not read aloud for public consumption out of concern for any personal information about Deville they might list. There was a reference to Deville's ex-girlfriend Arianna and WWE announcer Vic Joseph by the Judge, with Deville identifying him as her co-worker and one of her best friends.
Deville testified that one of the messages featured a threat that demanded she needed to have sex with the defendant or he would release her address to the world. He also threatened the lives of every living relative in her family, including her mother, her sister and her nieces as well as Deville's ex-girlfriend. His messages claimed that he could walk next door to her house, that he could kill people to show her he was serious and sent her messages stating "Tick Tock when will the fun begin?"
She testified that he threatened to come find her at a WWE event and it wouldn't matter if she was backstage, that he would get to her baby niece and that he would force her to perform sex acts on him and would force her to do so in the WWE Performance Center. She testified that her ex-girlfriend was so frightened by messages she received, she deactivated her own Instagram. She testified that she received a message that the only way to save her family from hard was to have sexual relations with him - and that he was coming to see her in person, wearing a mask. She testified that he sent a message saying that since she was ignoring him, he was coming to see her to talk to her in person, warning her that he was going to "get what I want" and would make her regret the fact that he was being ignored by her.
He also sent her a message stating that he would be attending Summerslam with her as her boyfriend. Deville had to explain what Summerslam was and that it was the second biggest event of the year for the company and that she and Mandy Rose were slated to wrestle against each other on the show. At this point, the livestream covering Deville's testimony ended.
The stream ended before the Judge could make a ruling. PWInsider.com will update once we have confirmed the final decision on Thomas' bail.
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