Sonya Deville Testifies At Pre-Trial Of Stalker

One of the more disturbing pieces of news to come out this week was the report that WWE Sonya Deville had her home broken into early Sunday morning. Deville, real name Daria Berenato, provided testimony at a pre-trial hearing today following the arrest of the individual who broke in. The man, Phillip Arnold Thomas II, had duct tape, mace, zip ties, a knife, and other things in his possession at the time.

PWInsider has reported the details of the testimony. However, we must advise caution as many of the details are quite disturbing. Here is the quote:

“WWE star Sonya Deville testified this afternoon in Tampa, Florida at a pre-trial hearing for Phillip Arnold Thomas II, who was arrested in Sonya Deville’s Florida home early Sunday morning.  Thomas has been charged with Aggravated Stalking, Armed Burglary of a Dwelling, Attempted Armed Kidnapping, and Criminal Mischief. He has been assigned a public defender and invoked his fifth amendment right to remain silent   Thomas was not present in the court room but was seen via video monitor from another room, where he was handcuffed and alone.

During her appearance, Deville was presented with photos of items that were not in her home until Thomas broke in.

Deville was then asked about checking her Instagram messages after authorities gave her Thomas’ name.  In searching his name, she testified that she found hundreds of messages from him threatening her life, the life of her baby niece and threatened to decapitate her ex-girlfriend.  She testified that he also threatened to sexually assault her and that the messages were sent over a period of many, many months.  He sent messages under his first name using his own face as a picture, a second account using the name “Phil” with no photo and a third account using another name.

Deville stated that the last message she received came shortly before he invaded her home and stated that she should look outside because he was at her pool and he was going to “kill that b**ch” who was with her.  Deville was then presented with copies of the messages, which she said she recognized.  Thomas’ attorney tried to object that the messages could not connect the defendant but the State argued that the last message placed Thomas at the scene of the crime and that further testimony from a detective could link those together.  One of the messages specifically noted Deville’s home address, which also strengthened the State’s claim.

The Judge began reading through messages so they were not read aloud for public consumption out of concern for any personal information about Deville they might list.  There was a reference to Deville’s ex-girlfriend Arianna and WWE announcer Vic Joseph by the Judge, with Deville identifying him as her co-worker and one of her best friends.

Deville testified that one of the messages featured a threat that demanded she needed to have sex with the defendant or he would release her address to the world.  He also threatened the lives of every living relative in her family, including her mother, her sister and her nieces as well as Deville’s ex-girlfriend.  His messages claimed that he could walk next door to her house, that he could kill people to show her he was serious and sent her messages stating “Tick Tock when will the fun begin?”

She testified that he threatened to come find her at a WWE event and it wouldn’t matter if she was backstage, that he would get to her baby niece and that he would force her to perform sex acts on him and would force her to do so in the WWE Performance Center.  She testified that her ex-girlfriend was so frightened by messages she received, she deactivated her own Instagram.  She testified that she received a message that the only way to save her family from hard was to have sexual relations with him – and that he was coming to see her in person, wearing a mask.  She testified that he sent a message saying that since she was ignoring him, he was coming to see her to talk to her in person, warning her that he was going to “get what I want” and would make her regret the fact that he was being ignored by her.

He also sent her a message stating that he would be attending Summerslam with her as her boyfriend.  Deville had to explain what Summerslam was and that it was the second biggest event of the year for the company and that she and Mandy Rose were slated to wrestle against each other on the show.  At this point, the livestream covering Deville’s testimony ended.”

We will continue to provide updates on the situation as they become available.

• stalker
• sonya deville
• mandy rose
• wwe

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