Two face death penalty in family's killing

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in West Palm Beach, Fla., say they'll use fingerprints found on a turnpike toll card to link two men to the slayings of a family of four.

Federal death penalty trials are to begin this week for Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Sr., charged with the execution-style shooting deaths of Yessica Escobedo, 25, and Jose Luis Escobedo, 28, and their two sons.

Yessica's arms were wrapped around the bodies of 4-year-old Luis Damien and 3-year-old Luis Julian when the family's bodies were found Oct. 13, 2006 along the Florida Turnpike in Port St. Lucie, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported Monday.

Fingerprints on a toll card found in the Escobedos abandoned Jeep led police to Troya and Sanchez, who allegedly knew Jose Escobedo through drug runs he brokered between Texas and Florida, police said.

The family's Jeep was found three days after the killings about 70 miles from the crime scene, police said.

Troya and Sanchez have said they were 50 miles from the crime scene at the time of the shootings, said their lawyer, Donnie Murell.