Sonya Deville's Attempted Kidnapper Transferred Out Of Police Custody

Phillip Thomas, the attempted kidnapper of WWE Superstar Sonya Deville, has been transferred out of police custody and entered a mental health facility, according to PWInsider. Thomas left the custody of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on June 22. 

This comes after a judge ruled on May 14 that Thomas was incompetent to stand criminal trial following a court-ordered medical examination. 

The judge noted within the ruling:

"The Defendant is manifestly incapable of surviving alone or with the help of willing and responsible family or friends, including available alternative services, and, without treatment, the Defendant is likely to suffer from neglect or to refuse to care for himself/herself, and such neglect or refusal poses a real and present threat of substantive harm to the Defendant's well-being; or, there is a substantial likelihood that in the near future the Defendant will inflict serious bodily harm on himself/herself or another person, as evidenced by behaviors causing, attempting, or threatening such harm. 

"b. All available, less restrictive treatment alternatives, including treatment in community residential facilities or community inpatient or outpatient settings, which would offer an opportunity for improvement of the Defendant's condition have been judged to be inappropriate; and 

c. There is substantial probability that the mental illness causing the Defendant's incompetence to proceed will respond to treatment and the Defendant will regain competency to proceed in the reasonably foreseeable future."

Thomas will remain committed for the foreseeable future as the judge ordered in May that he not be released without "further order" from the court.

Thomas was arrested in the early hours of August 16, 2020, and was later charged with aggravated stalking, armed burglary of a dwelling, attempted armed kidnapping, and criminal mischief. 

It emerged shortly after that Thomas had been planning the abduction for months. He travelled from South Carolina and parked at a nearby church before walking to Deville's home. He then cut a hole in the patio screen and waited on the porch for three to four hours. After Deville and her guest Mandy Rose went to bed, Thomas entered the home at 2:43 am which triggered the property's alarm. Deville and Rose then fled the property and called 911.

At the time of his arrest, Thomas was carrying a mace, a knife, duct tape, plastic zip ties and other items. He admitted to police that he was planning to take Deville hostage.