Jury finds Luis Toledo guilty of killing his wife, her two children

Toledo's sentencing set for Wednesday

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A jury in the high-profile murder trial of triple-murderer Luis Toledo on Friday found him guilty on all counts.

Toledo is charged in the deaths of his wife, Yessenia Suarez, and her two children. Because he was convicted of killing the children on first-degree murder charges, he could face the death penalty.

The state laid out its case to the jury Thursday during closing arguments, saying the evidence shows that Toledo killed Suarez and the children in October 2013.

"He was the only person in the world who had the motive to murder Yessenia Suarez," a prosecutor said. "After all, he caught her cheating on him."

The state and defense presented their respective cases over the last two weeks, including showing photos and video of Toledo confessing to killing Suarez during a police interview.

The defense, however, said Toledo's neighbor, Tyshawn Jackson, killed the children.

Toledo's attorneys told the jury that there's not enough physical evidence to convict him of murder.

"The evidence is that (Jackson) went in there, (Toledo and Suarez) got in an argument, (Jackson) saw this, Tyshawn Jackson was there and Tyshawn Jackson killed his kids. That's the evidence, and that's all the evidence," a defense attorney said.

The jury found Toledo guilty on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of both children, one count of second-degree murder in Suarez's death and one count of tampering with physical evidence.

Toledo's sentencing is set for Wednesday.
 

 


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Daniel started with WKMG-TV in 2000 and became the digital content manager in 2009. When he's not working on ClickOrlando.com, Daniel likes to head to the beach or find a sporting event nearby.

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