Sakiyna Thompson sentenced to life in jail without parole in the love triangle murder of Kayla Hodgson at her home in Tamarac, Florida.
A woman convicted in the killing of her romantic rival in Tamarac, Florida back in 2022 has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Sakiyna Thompson, 31, was sentenced on Monday following her previous conviction of first-degree murder in October in the July 2022 killing of 23-year-old Kayla Hodgson after a jury deliberated for just one hour.
Ex girlfriend was upset boyfriend had started new Tamarac, Florida woman
On Monday, ten of Hodgson’s family members and friend spoke in court before Thompson’s sentencing, NBC6 reported.
‘What she did was wicked and evil and a person like her, it’s important they never see the light of day again,’ said Hodgson’s cousin, Melanie John.
‘I feel like I can finally start some type of healing,’ said another cousin, Alisha Mitchell. ‘It will never be the same, we will forever miss her. The way she died, it will never really sit right with us. At least the person responsible is being held accountable.’
Prosecutors said Thompson flew to South Florida from New York days before the murder with the intent of killing Hodgson. They said Thompson was jealous that Hodgson was dating Thompson’s ex-boyfriend in the love triangle gone wrong.
Thompson surprised Hodgson at her Tamarac apartment at 5 a.m., confronted her about the two women dating the same man, and then stabbed her to death, prosecutors said.
Jilted ex girlfriend claimed she’d acted in self defense
During the trial, jurors heard four hours of closing arguments that were centered on whether Thompson planned to kill Hodgson or whether Thompson acted in self-defense.
Thompson told jurors she went to Hodgson’s apartment uninvited to talk ‘woman-to-woman’ about dating the same man. She then claimed ‘discussions’ became ‘complicated’ after Thompson claiming Hodgson attacking her and punching her in the face and cutting her in the stomach. At the time, Thompson was two month pregnant (it remained unclear with whose child).
Defense for Thompson said the killing was unfortunate, but it was only Thompson’s attempts to save her own life and the life of her unborn child.
Thompson then admitted to changing into the victim’s clothes, cleaning up some of the scene, and being ‘too scared’ to call police. She also threw evidence in the trash.
The state said Thompson tried to conceal her identity that night by coming to the apartment in a hat and a COVID-19 mask, and used a fake Uber account to get there and back to her hotel.
Thompson had claimed she blacked out and didn’t remember killing Hodgson.
‘How about the audacity of you to come up on this stand and waste taxpayer dollars and tell them a crock of garbage to everyone about your blackout reasoning,’ said one of Hodgson’s family members.
