Children’s Club Worker Held in Girl’s Slaying

STATELINE, Nev. — A part-time worker for a children’s club at a Tahoe apartment complex was arrested Monday in connection with the killing of a 9-year-old girl kidnapped from the complex parking lot.

Authorities arrested Thomas Robert Soria Jr., 19, just a few hours after the girl’s nude body was found Monday morning, down a highway embankment about 25 miles away.

Authorities said Krystal Steadman had been seen about 2 p.m. Sunday standing on the running board of Soria’s vehicle outside the Lake Park apartments, where her mother, from nearby South Lake Tahoe, Calif., was visiting a friend.

Her body was found about 9:20 a.m. Monday off U.S. 50.

Soria faces a Justice Court arraignment on murder and kidnapping charges today. Douglas County Dist. Atty. Scott Doyle said he could seek the death penalty in the case.

Douglas County Sheriff Ron Pierini said an autopsy was planned today to determine the cause of death and whether the girl had been sexually assaulted.

The sheriff said Soria had been under surveillance since shortly after the disappearance. Deputies arrested him just before noon Monday at his apartment in the complex, and he offered no resistance.