DELTONA, Fla. – The resentencing trial for two men convicted in the so-called Xbox murders, the deadliest mass murder in Volusia County’s history, continued Monday, with the defense for one of the men resting its case.
Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter were convicted of breaking into a Deltona home and beating six people to death with baseball bats and stabbing them in a Deltona home in 2004 in a case that drew national attention.
Victorino’s defense team called in his mother to take the stand, hoping she could illustrate for the jury how Victorino came to be a troubled person. Victorino is said to have been the mastermind of the murders.
[Watch video below to see News 6 report]
“He got spanked. He got disciplined by my husband with the belt, and the buckle hit him in the neck,” said Sharon Victorino.
Sharon explained Victorino suffered from some abuse growing up and, eventually, had to be committed as a child to state mental health hospitals.
She told the jury that she has tried not to pay attention to the case over the last 20 years.
“It was so anxiety filled, first of all, for me. The anxiety I have for the victims and their families that all I prayed for was peace of mind and in order for me to have peace of mind I had to stay as far away from those things as I could,” she said.
Victorino’s team brought in psychological experts, too.
“He thinks about that day. It torments him,” psychiatrist Jeffrey Danzinger said.
Danzinger told the jury Victorino suffers from mental illness and is remorseful for what he did, but they want him to pay for it by serving a life prison sentence instead of death for his role in the 2004 murders.
“He feels he should suffer somewhat for what he’s done. There’s no making it right,” he said.
On Tuesday, all sides are expected to present their closing arguments before the decision gets handed to the jury.
Hunter’s defense team rested its case on Friday, arguing that that life in prison without parole is sparing his life but a tougher punishment.
[Watch coverage as Hunter’s defense presents case resentencing trial]
“We want to make it clear that we acknowledge that the sentence that we seek to impose provides a chance at life that Mr. Victorino took from his victims,” said Tim Pribisco, his defense attorney.
[Watch coverage of Friday’s hearing below]
Victorino, Hunter and two other men beat and stabbed six people and a dog to death at a Deltona home in 2004. Victorino had been squatting in one of the victim’s houses, got kicked out but left items behind that he was upset he had not gotten back, including an Xbox, leading to the case being coined the Xbox murders.
[RELATED: Opening statements in resentencing of Florida Xbox murders]
“His lack of treatment for his mental illness which persisted since childhood, his exposure to physical and sexual abuse leading to his own substance abuse ultimately resulted in the human being Troy Victorino,” Pribisco argued.
Prosecutors rested their case last week, using graphic testimony to show why the men should die for killing the six people and a dog.
[Watch coverage as state rests case in resentencing trial]
Prosecutor witnesses said Victorino, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall, intimidated Hunter and two other men into joining him in the murders. Victorino and Hunter were the only two originally sentenced to death for their roles.
Hunter’s team brought in witnesses to argue his mental state at the time and that his upbringing was rough, hoping to convince this jury to spare him.
[Watch coverage from day 3 of the resentencing trial below]
The two other men involved in the crimes were Michael Salas, whose testimony was read, was found guilty of murder, while another co-defendant, Robert Cannon, pleaded guilty. Both are serving life sentences.
[Watch coverage from day 2 of the resentencing trial below]
Jury selection had started in April 2023 in the resentencing of Victorino and Hunter when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new death-penalty law, which eliminated a requirement for unanimous jury recommendations before defendants could be sentenced to death.
Under the law, death sentences can be imposed after 8-4 jury recommendations.
[Watch video below for previous coverage of the case]