A New York woman has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2022 stabbing death of a Florida woman she believed had “disrespected” her by blocking her on social media.
Sakiyna Thompson, 31, was sentenced on Dec. 2 in Broward County, Fla., after a jury found her guilty of first-degree premeditated murder in the killing of 23-year-old Kayla Hodgson outside Hodgson’s Tamarac apartment complex in July 2022.
The sentencing came the same day the Broward Sheriff’s Office publicly released body camera footage from the crime scene — video that quickly went viral for its heartbreaking portrayal of deputies delivering the news to Hodgson’s family.
According to court records, Thompson and Hodgson had briefly been involved with the same woman — Thompson’s recent ex, who later began dating Hodgson. Prosecutors said Thompson became increasingly fixated on Hodgson and continued trying to contact her until Hodgson blocked her on social media and her phone.
Investigators testified that Thompson viewed the blocking as a personal insult and spent weeks planning an attack.
Prosecutors said Thompson bought a one-way plane ticket from New York to Fort Lauderdale on July 28, 2022, and packed a wig, sunglasses, a change of clothes and a large knife in her luggage.
The next day, she took an Uber directly to Hodgson’s apartment building on Hampton Hills Boulevard, where she waited outside for hours in disguise. When Hodgson returned home from work that evening, Thompson confronted her in the parking lot. Neighbors called 911 after hearing screams, and deputies found Hodgson fatally injured and Thompson walking away, still holding the knife, according to officials.
She was arrested at the scene.
The newly released 20-minute bodycam compilation shows deputies arriving to find Hodgson already deceased and covered by a sheet. Within minutes, members of Hodgson’s family — who lived nearby — rushed to the complex.
In the footage, a deputy kneels beside them and gently says, “She didn’t make it.” Hodgson’s mother collapses in anguish as deputies comfort the family and allow them a moment to pray beside her body before the medical examiner arrives.
At one point, a deputy is seen wiping away tears.
Thompson pleaded not guilty at trial, with her attorneys arguing she acted during a mental health crisis. Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before returning with a guilty verdict.
Under Florida law, a first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
During the sentencing hearing, Hodgson’s mother delivered an emotional statement: “You flew here with one thought — to take my daughter’s life because she blocked you. You took her from us for nothing.”
Friends and family described Hodgson as warm, ambitious and close with her siblings. She had recently started a new job and was excited about her future, relatives said.
Outside the courthouse, her family said the life sentence brings some relief but cannot fill the “unbearable” void left by her absence.
“She deserved so much more life,” her mother said.
