Accused Child Killer Dies in Cell

MINDEN, Nev. (AP) â€” An accused pedophile on trial for the kidnap, rape and killing of a 9-year-old Lake Tahoe girl was found dead in his Douglas County jail cell early Sunday. <br><br>Thomas Soria Sr.,

Monday, January 29th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MINDEN, Nev. (AP) â€” An accused pedophile on trial for the kidnap, rape and killing of a 9-year-old Lake Tahoe girl was found dead in his Douglas County jail cell early Sunday.

Thomas Soria Sr., 40, was found early Sunday not breathing by sheriff's deputies during a routine check, District Attorney Scott Doyle said. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Doyle said a cause of death was not immediately determined and there were no visible signs of trauma. An autopsy was pending.

Soria was being held in a medical isolation unit because of the charges pending against him, Doyle said. He added Soria was on mediation but he did not have details on the type of drugs he was taking.

Soria, a former computer technician who moved to Lake Tahoe from Sacramento in January 1999, was on trial for the killing of Krystal Steadman.

The fourth-grader disappeared March 19 from an apartment complex where Soria lived and where her mother, Elizabeth Steadman, was visiting her boyfriend.

The little girl's nude, battered body was found the next day down an embankment, about 20 miles from where she vanished. She was sexually assaulted and her throat was slashed numerous times with a serrated blade.

Testimony in Soria's trial began Friday after a week of jury selection. He faced a possible death sentence if convicted.