Adoptive dad sentenced to 50 years behind bars after son was found dead in a washing machine

Nearly three years after a seven-year-old boy was found dead inside a washing machine at his family’s home, the child’s adoptive father has learned his fate.

Jermaine Thomas was sentenced on Wednesday to 50 years in prison for the murder of Troy Koehler, just days after the grim anniversary of the child’s death.

“Now, we will never know what he could have become,” his former first-grade teacher Sheryl Reed during the setnencing. “His future, his dreams, his life–were stolen by someone who was supposed to love, protect, and nurture him.”

On July 28, 2022, Troy’s body was discovered stuffed inside a top-loading washing machine at the family’s home in the Birnam Wood subdivision in Spring, Texas. Thomas had reported the boy missing that morning, telling authorities he returned home just before midnight and found the front door unlocked.

Hours later, Harris County deputies found the child’s fully clothed body inside the appliance.

According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, an autopsy revealed Troy had suffered both new and old injuries prior to his death. His death was ruled a homicide.

It was later confirmed by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services that Child Protective Services had a prior history with the family.

Thomas’ wife, Tiffany Thomas, has also been charged in the case with injury to a child by omission. She is seeking community supervision.

At the time of his death, Troy was preparing to start the fifth grade. In court on Wednesday, Reed delivered an emotional victim impact statement, describing Troy as a vibrant, caring child with a passion for reading and a soft spot for Sonic the Hedgehog.

She remembered him as a boy who would rush to the classroom library to pick out books as soon as he finished his work.

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. That was always Troy,” Reed said. “He loved reading. If he finished early, he’d head straight to our class library. Then he’d go right back to share those stories with classmates…always lifting others up with the joy he carried.”

“He was the son I never had. I loved that boy and wanted to see him succeed,” she added.

Reed, who said she hopes to start a foundation in Troy’s name to advocate for children suffering from abuse and neglect, told the court she chose to speak to remind others that the boy’s life mattered.

“He wasn’t just a 7-year-old boy found in a washing machine,” she said. “I wanted to speak for Troy and advocate for him.”