The two men convicted for murder in a 2004 mass killing spree have been sentenced to death once again. 48-year-old Troy Victorino and 39-year-old Jerone Hunter were first convicted on multiple counts of first degree murder among other crimes in August 2006, and received multiple death sentences.
The two defendants in Monday's sentencing were among four total individuals connected to the killings of six people over two decades ago. The others, Robert Cannon and Michael Salas, were each sentenced to life in prison after also being found guilty of first degree murder.
A resentencing proceeding was held in 2023 after Victorino and Hunter's death sentences were struck down. That wound up ending in a mistrial, setting up yet another attempt to put the two men in the queue to be executed by the state.
Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols presided over the sentencing, which took place Monday at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys did not comment to local media as they left the courtroom.
There will be an automatic appeal filed to the Florida Supreme Court, as is customary for juror recommendations of the death penalty in Florida. 24 death row inmates have been killed by the state since Gov. Ron DeSantis took office in 2010, the most of any governor since capital punishment in the United States resumed in 1976. All executions have been carried out via lethal injection since the start of the 21st century.
Both Victorino and Hunter were said to have been squatters on property owned by the grandparents of Erin Belanger. They were reportedly partying at the homeowners' house while they were away, but both men were later evicted from the home by Volusia Sheriff's deputies at the request of Belanger.
The label 'Xbox killings' came because Victorino claimed that Belanger and others living at the home stole his Xbox gaming console, and that they'd tried calling law enforcement when he was simply returning for his things.
On Friday, August 6th, 2004, Victorino and Hunter are said to have carried out a sort of revenge for their eviction. The men entered the home and attacked several people who were inside with baseball bats and machetes. Belanger herself was beaten to death before her body was sexually defiled by Victorino.
Five others were killed in the attack aside from Belanger. Jonathan Gleason was stabbed to death by Hunter. Francisco Ayo-Roman was beaten to death with a bat. Tito Gonzalez was beaten over the head with a bat and stabbed to death in the chest and stomach. Anthony Vegas was beaten and stabbed in the throat. His girlfriend, Michelle Ann Nathan, hid in the closet before being found, beaten, and stabbed to death. A pet dog in the residence was also killed.
The St. Augustine trial for the murders concluded in August 2006, in which Victorino and Hunter were sentenced to death by lethal injection. In 2017, while on death row, their sentences were overturned due to a Florida Supreme Court decision that a unanimous verdict was required for death sentences.
