Justices: Appeals court overstepped authority in Deltona Xbox murder case

The 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach overstepped its jurisdiction when it became involved last year in a legal battle over the death penalty resentencing of two men convicted in the Deltona Xbox mass murder, according to a footnote in a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court.

But the Florida Supreme Court stated in the ruling that the issue is now moot since the resentencing of Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter last year is over, having ended in a mistrial.

The state Supreme Court referred in the footnote to prior decisions it has issued asserting jurisdiction “in cases in which a death sentence has been vacated and further penalty proceedings have been ordered.”

The Supreme Court stated in the ruling, filed Feb. 9, that it would be inappropriate for it to take action in the case, such as issuing a “prohibition.”

“Its purpose is to prevent the doing of something, not to compel the undoing of something already done,” the Supreme Court ruling stated.

The Supreme Court denied the request by the attorneys for Victorino and Hunter to order the 5th DCA “to rescind its unconstitutional claim of jurisdiction over capital resentencing matter,” writing the issue is moot.

Allison Ferber Miller and Garry Wood represented Hunter and Ann Finnell and Gonzalo Andux represented Victorino.

Prosecutors plan to try again to sentence Victorino and Hunter to death but a date has not yet been set.

Victorino, 47, and Jerone Hunter, 37, were convicted and initially sentenced to death in 2006 for their roles in the 2004 Deltona Xbox mass murder in which six people were killed.

But their death sentences were later struck down and their cases sent back to circuit court for resentencing.

Panels of potential jurors were summoned to the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand last year. A jury panel was sworn in on April 20, the same day that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new law requiring only 8 of 12 jurors to recommend the death penalty for a judge to be able to impose that punishment.

When attorneys began jury selection the law required a unanimous vote.

Circuit Judge Randell Rowe III denied the state’s request to use the new law and instead ruled that the trial would proceed under the old law requiring a unanimous jury recommendation for death.

Prosecutors through the State Attorney Generals Office asked the 5th District Court to intervene. The 5th District Court ordered on April 27 a stop to the resentencing and on May 11 issued a ruling saying the resentencing should proceed under the new law requiring only an 8 to 4 recommendation for death.

But the delay led to scheduling conflicts with jurors and witnesses.

Rowe then declared a mistrial on May 16. Besides Victorino and Hunter, two other men, Michael Salas and Robert Cannon, participated in the massacre in which they broke into a home on Telford Lane and used bats and knives to fatally beat and stab six people on Aug. 6, 2004.

Salas and Cannon were sentenced to life. Killed in the massacre were Erin Belanger, 22; Michelle Nathan, 19; Roberto “Tito” Gonzalez, 28; Jonathan Gleason,17; Francisco “Flaco” Ayo-Roman, 30; and Anthony Vega, 34. A dog was also killed.