The Deltona mass murder: Here's what you need to know
The Deltona mass murder shocked Volusia and surrounding counties in the summer of 2004. Six people, ranging in age from 17 to 34, were slaughtered with bats and knives. A dog belonging to one of the victims was also killed.
And all because a hulking gang member was enraged that someone took his Xbox from the house he had been squatting in.
Prosecutors are now hoping to send that gang member and an accomplice back to death row.
What's next in the Xbox murders:2 men convicted in Deltona mass murder face death penalty again after sentences overturned
Challenges struck down:Deltona killer Troy Victorino's latest death penalty challenges struck down
Killer's defense:Victorino framed as ringleader in baseball bat murders
Who is responsible for the Xbox Murders?
Troy Victorino, Jerone Hunter, Michael Salas and Robert Cannon broke into a home on Telford Lane in Deltona on Aug. 6, 2004, and beat and stabbed six people to death. Victorino also killed a dog, saying it could identify him. Attorneys are arguing over whether he was kidding or serious about the dog as a witness.
Who were the victims of the Deltona mass murder?
Erin Belanger, 22; Michelle Nathan, 19; Roberto "Tito" Gonzalez, 28; Jonathan Gleason, 17; Francisco "Flaco" Ayo-Roman, 30; and Anthony Vega, 34, were killed in the massacre
Jury convicts Troy Victorino, Jerone Hunter and Michael Salas of murder
A jury convicted Victorino, Hunter and Salas in 2006. Cannon reached a plea deal and did not go to trial. Cannon later refused to testify against the others as he had agreed to as part of the plea deal. Victorino and Hunter were sentenced to death. Salas and Cannon were sentence to life in prison.
The Florida Supreme Court
In 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that jury recommendations for a death sentence must be unanimous. But the closest jurors had come to a unanimous death recommendation for Victorino and Hunter was 10-2. In 2017, Circuit Judge Randell Rowe III cited the Supreme Court decision in overturning the death sentences against the two men.
Jurors will decide, again, whether to recommend the death penalty
Prosecutors will try to send Victorino and Hunter back to death row during a penalty-phase trial starting April 10 at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand. Victorino and Hunter's guilt has already been decided. Jurors will only decide whether to recommend a death sentence or in effect sentence them to life in prison without the possibility of release.
And this time jurors must be unanimous or Victorino and Hunter will receive life sentences.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Deltona's Xbox Murders: What you need to know before the April trial
