Two men convicted in the deadliest mass murder in Volusia County history are once again on death row. Troy Victorino, 48, and Jerone Hunter, 39, were resentenced to death Monday following a jury’s unanimous recommendation and a ruling by Judge Dawn Nichols.
Victorino and Hunter were found guilty of a brutal 2004 home invasion in Deltona, where they, along with two accomplices, beat and stabbed six people and a dog to death with baseball bats. The pair were first convicted and sentenced to death in 2006.
Their legal journey has been lengthy and complicated. Although their murder convictions remained intact, their original death sentences were overturned in 2018 after Florida courts ruled that capital punishment requires a unanimous jury recommendation—a standard that wasn’t met in their initial trial. Their co-defendants, Michael Salas and Robert Cannon, are serving life sentences.
In April 2023, the resentencing process faced another setback. A jury had just been seated when Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law allowing non-unanimous 8-4 jury recommendations in death penalty cases, forcing a mistrial.
A new jury convened this April under the updated law and ultimately voted in favor of the death penalty on all counts for both defendants.
State Attorney R.J. Larizza acknowledged the long and painful process, saying,
“It is a sad reality that death penalty cases drag on for decades. The families of our six victims have suffered repeatedly through years of appeals and new court proceedings.”
Larizza added that he hopes this ruling brings closure:
“Perhaps now the defendants’ death warrants will be signed and carried out expeditiously.”
Assistant State Attorneys Heatha Trigones and Andrew Urbanak prosecuted the resentencing trial on behalf of the state before Judge Nichols, securing new death sentences for both men.
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