Daria Berenato, best known as WWE’s Sonya Deville, says she finally has some closure after the recent sentencing of her attempted kidnapper earlier this week.
The 29-year-old wrestling star shared a message on social media on Wednesday, expressing her gratitude to all those who had reached out to her upon the news.
“After almost 3 years we finally got some closure last week. I am happy and healthy and have amazing people by my side. To say it’s over feels odd but I am beyond grateful for the support and help I received over the past 3 years from HCSO, Tampa PD, to everyone in the courts, attorneys, friends, security and so so many more,” she wrote in her Instagram post’s caption.
She also shared she has a lot more to say about the situation involving the man who was obsessed with her and plotting to kidnap her that could help others in similar situations.
“BUT for now thank you ? ?,” Sonya said at the end of her post’s caption, which featured a selfie of her smiling face.
The IG post collected over 44,000 likes and 840 comments from friends, fans, and followers reacting to her message.
Man was obsessed with WWE star and plotted to kidnap her
According to a FOX 13 News report, a man who’d become seriously obsessed with WWE star Sonya Deville attempted to kidnap her in August 2020, something he’d been plotting for many months.
The man, identified at the time as Phillip A. Thomas II of South Carolina drove from his state of residence to the Tampa Bay, Florida, area where Sonya lives.
Once there, he parked his vehicle at a nearby Baptist church before walking to Sonya’s home, cutting a hold in a screen window, and waiting outside for several hours for when the wrestling star went to bed for the night.
At around 3 a.m. local time, the man broke into her home by opening a sliding glass door, setting the home alarm off. Sonya checked on the alarm to find the door open. She and someone staying in the home with her saw the man and immediately fled to call 911.
When authorities arrived, they found the man still inside the home armed with a knife, plastic zip ties, duct tape, and Mace. Reportedly, he told them that he’d planned to take the wrestling star hostage, which he’d been planning for eight months.
Before the attempted kidnapping, he’d been stalking Sonya on social media for several years, sending threatening messages to her and eventually directing them toward her family and friends.
Sonya Deville’s attempted kidnapper agrees to a plea deal
In 2020, the man who tried to take the WWE star hostage was charged with aggravated stalking, armed burglary, attempted armed kidnapping, and criminal mischief.
According to TMZ’s report, Thomas pled guilty to multiple charges this past Tuesday in a plea deal that will send him to prison for 15 years.
The situation involving the man stalking and attempting to kidnap Sonya had the wrestling star shaken up to the point she began carrying a firearm with her. TMZ says she was arrested this past February for unlawful weapon possession for the gun, which she purchased legally in Florida but had with her while in New Jersey without a proper permit.
Now that her attempted kidnapper has been sentenced, it seems Sonya finally has some of the closure she needs and can move forward with her career and personal life. The WWE star has plenty to look forward to, including eventually marrying her girlfriend, Toni Cassano, whom USA Network reported she got engaged to, also in New Jersey this past February.
WWE SmackDown airs Fridays at 8/7c on FOX.