DELTONA, Fla. – A man who is charged with murder for the death of his wife and her two children had a court hearing Friday afternoon.
Luis Toledo, who is accused of killing wife Yessenia Suarez and her two children, was back in court for the first time since the Florida Supreme Court voted to have a unanimous jury make the decision on the death penalty.
The family vanished from their home in Deltona.
Toledo admitted to killing his wife, but denied killing her children. Their bodies were never found.
Michael Otto is the father of the two children Toledo is accused of killing. There were tears in Otto's eyes Friday as he heard the judge announce that the 35-year-old gang member will go to trial Oct. 2.
"It's a good feeling to finally have a date," Otto said. "It will be almost four years in October, so I'm just ready for it to start."
Otto said he just wants justice for his children.
Toledo was set to stand trial in January, however, before jury selection, a judge delayed the trial because the prosecutor was seeking the death penalty.
The United States Supreme Court declared Florida's death penalty law unconstitutional in January 2016 because it gives more power to the judges and not to the juries.
On March 13, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a law which requires a unanimous jury decision for the death penalty to be imposed.
"We've known this was coming for a couple of years," said Jeff Deen, Toledo's attorney.
Deen said they have until June to file all the motions related to the new statute.
"There's still some work that the defense needs to do. We understand the court's concern but we got to protect the rights of Mr. Toledo and make sure everything is done before we get started," said Michael Nielsen, Toledo's attorney.
The attorneys declined to comment if the new guidelines will be more difficult for prosecution but said instead of recommending the death penalty, the jury will be voting on it.
"They have to find unanimously that there was an aggravating factor -- at least one. They have to find unanimously that that's sufficient to warrant the death penalty, and then they have to find unanimously that they are going to vote for the death penalty," said Deen.
The trial will begin Oct. 2 in St. Augustine, a judge ruled Friday.