Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Fla. fed jury gives death to child-killers

|
|
 
  
Published: April 1, 2009 at 3:22 PM

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., April 1 (UPI) -- Lawyers for a pair of Florida killers sentenced to death in the slaying of two children, who died along with their parents, say they will appeal the sentence.

Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr., both 25, were sentenced Tuesday in West Palm Beach, Fla. -- the first time a Florida federal jury has invoked capital punishment since Congress reauthorized the death penalty under a revised statute for murder in 1988, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

The jury sentenced the two to death for the execution-style murders Oct. 13, 2006, of Luis Julian Escobedo, 4, and Luis Damian Escobedo, 3. The two men got life sentences for killing the children's parents, Luis Escobedo, 28, and Yessica Guerrero Escobedo, 25.

Attorney Barry Wax, head of the death penalty committee for the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said that the jury's decision shows the significant emotional impact of a case involving child-killing.

"Were these two victims adults, my guess is this would not have been a death penalty case," Wax said.

Attorneys said they would appeal.

Topics: Ricardo Sanchez
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
New book is full of girls in their bedrooms, will be read by people who need to have a seat right...
★☆☆☆☆ Michigan is an uninhabitable swamp. Do not settle
As part of the Queen's jubilee celebrations, Top Gear presenter James May has built a contraption...
New, comprehensive data on all the reasons why people break-up. Bad news for Farkers: drinking too...
There is finally a car that's more dangerous to rear-end than a Ford Pinto
Here is the full list of 2012 hurricane names. Wait... Hurricane Kirk?