Arkansas man gets 50-year sentence for killing transgender teen

An Arkansas man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing a transgender teen in what authorities said was an attempt to hide their relationship.

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Trevone Hayse Miller, 20, of Sherwood, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and a fire enhancement charge last month, KHTV reported. Miller’s charge was reduced from capital murder in exchange for the 50-year sentence imposed by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

According to court documents, Braylen Stone, 17, was fatally shot by Miller in June 2020 to “keep Ms. Stone from revealing that they were in a sexual relationship.”

Miller was 18 at the time of the shooting, KARK-TV reported. He turned 20 last week.

Stone’s body was found by police after a car was found on a walking path in Sherwood, KTHV reported. Miller was arrested a week later and charged with capital murder.

Miller will have to serve 35 years before he can qualify for parole, according to the Democrat-Gazette.

It was the second time Miller had been implicated in the murder of a Sherwood teenager.

In April 2016, Miller, then 14, was the youngest of three teens charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of Bryan Allen Thompson, 17, the newspaper reported.

Six months later, Miller made a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to aggravated robbery in juvenile court and testify against his co-defendants, the Democrat-Gazette reported. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the capital murder charge.

Miller did not have to testify, as his co-defendants, Quincy Parks, 15, of Sherwood, and Xavier Terrell Porter, 17, of North Little Rock, pleaded guilty eight months later, the newspaper reported.

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