01/04/2009 18:20
Jury votes for death penalty, first time since 1988 in Florida
In a historic verdict Tuesday, juries condemned two men to death for the murders of two children who were slain execution-style with their parents along Florida's Turnpike, Vesti.ru reports referring to Itar-tass.
The jury's unanimous vote for death was the first time jurors approved the federal death penalty in Florida since Congress reauthorized capital punishment in 1988.
The same jury that convicted Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr. voted they should be executed for gunning down Luis Julian Escobedo, 4, and Luis Damian Escobedo, 3, on Oct. 13, 2006. Jurors gave the two men life in prison for killing the boys' parents, Luis Escobedo, 28, and his wife, Yessica Guerrero Escobedo, 25.
Troya and Sanchez, both 25, were convicted of executing the family on the roadside in St. Lucie County to settle the drug debt of the man prosecutors said was their boss and drug kingpin, Danny Varela. Prosecutors said Luis Escobedo was Varela's supplier.