Texas Dad Sentenced to 50 Years in Jail After Adopted Son, 7, Found Dead Inside Washing Machine

Three years after 7-year-old Troy Koehler was found dead inside a washing machine at his family home, his adoptive father has been sentenced for his murder.

According to a press release from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and court records reviewed by PEOPLE on Wednesday, July 30, Jemaine Thomas, 45, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for murdering Troy after pleading guilty.

Troy’s former first-grade teacher, Sheryl Reed, read a victim impact statement in court.

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. That was always Troy. 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,” she said.

Court records reviewed by PEOPLE show that Troy’s adoptive mother, Tiffany Thomas, 38, has been charged with injury to a child under 15 b/injury. Her bond has been set at $300,000. She pleaded guilty and her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 10.

An additional charge of injury to a child by omission was previously made against Tiffany but dismissed, court records show.

As previously reported by PEOPLE, Jemaine and Tiffany are believed to have adopted Troy in 2019.

Troy was discovered dead on July 28, 2022, when his parents filed a missing persons report.

When officers arrived at the home, they “did a brief interview for the missing person report” with Troy’s parents, Lt. Robert Minchew of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit said in a previous press conference.

“Things that they observed led them to search the house thoroughly at that point. They found a deceased 7-year-old child in the washing machine in the garage,” he said. Troy was found clothed in the top-loading washing machine at 7:20 a.m.

According to court documents reviewed by KPRC 2 Houston, Troy was threatened with being put inside an oven, after he allegedly ate some of Tiffany’s oatmeal cream pies. Prosecutors said text messages revealed Jemaine was also upset after allegedly discovering that Troy had eaten his doughnut sticks.

“I need to get the [locks]. I’m going to end up kill[ing] him,” he allegedly wrote in the text message, per KPRC 2 Houston.

In November 2022, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced on X that forensic scientists conducted an autopsy on Troy, which revealed that he “suffered new and previous injuries” as a result of the incident. His death was ruled a homicide.

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According to KPRC 2 Houston, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services later confirmed that Child Protective Services had a prior history with the family.