VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – The Florida Attorney General’s Office filed an emergency motion Tuesday night to halt the resentencing trial for two men convicted in the gruesome so-called Xbox murders in Deltona nearly 20 years ago.
State prosecutors want a newly enacted state law that does not require a unanimous jury decision in death penalty cases to be used in the resentencing trial, but the judge has denied the request, saying the jury was chosen before the new law took effect. The emergency motion was filed with an appeals court, but it’s not known when a ruling will be made.
The resentencing trial began Tuesday and resumed Wednesday for Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter, who beat six people and a dog to death inside a home in August 2004. They were originally sentenced to death, but their sentences were later overturned because the jury’s decision wasn’t unanimous.
[WARNING: Graphic images expected to be shown at trial. Please be aware when watching livestream atop this page.]
The crime became known as the Xbox murders because the accused mastermind, Victorino, had gone to the house to get his Xbox and other items after he was caught squatting in the home.
The victims, all friends, died from blunt force trauma to their heads after being struck several times, a medical examiner said. Their bodies were also cut and stabbed, according to authorities.
Testimony began Tuesday with the medical examiner taking the stand, followed by a deputy who worked the scene, as well as a coworker of one of the victims.
Graphic crime-scene video was shown to the jury on Wednesday, prompting family members of the victims to leave the courtroom.
After a recess, the state called a forensic analyst, who detailed where the bodies were in the house and what the crime scene looked like.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed a bill eliminating the requirement for unanimous jury recommendations before judges can impose death sentences. The new law took effect immediately and represents a major change in Florida’s death-penalty system.
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