The
tragiccase
rocked
Florida’s
child-welfare
agencyCARMEN BARAHONA
JORGE BARAHONA
Authorities
investigate
thesceneunconscious nearby.
But it was what they found
in the back of the truck that
would haunt the rescue
team forever.
It was Nubia. Just 10 years
old, she was dead.
Her naked, decomposing
body had been doused in
chemicals and wrapped
in a bin bag.
Jorge was arrested.
While detained, he gave
conflicting reports about
how Nubia had died.
He said he was so upset
by his daughter’s death, he
planned to drive north before
killing himself, with Nubia’s
dead body in the back seat.
But he never admitted
to killing her.
Carmen was also taken
into custody.
Victor – who’d suffered a
broken arm and collarbone,
had scars on his buttocks and
stomach and rope marks on
both wrists – was placed with
a new foster family.
As the months passed,
he opened up about the
horrific abuse he’d allegedly
suffered at the hands of
the Barahonas.
He said he and Nubia were
only given bread and milk
once a week, while Jorge and
Carmen dined on shredded
beef and rice.
He told them about violent
beatings he’d suffered at the
hands of Jorge.
He reported that, one time,
Jorge hit him on the head with
a mop stick, resulting in a
large scar.
He said Jorge would rub
hot sauce in his eyes, ears
and mouth.
And when Victor watched
his new foster mother putting
on false eyelashes, he said it
brought back the most
horrific memory.
He claimed he lost his own
lashes when Jorge glued
his eyes shut.
Victor had a similar reaction
when his new
foster father
filled up a pitcher
with ice water.
He alleged
that Jorge had
tied him and
Nubia up, taped
their mouths,
bound their feet,
put them in the
bath and dousedthem with ice.
Evil.
But most heartbreakingly,
Victor struggled to speak about
his beloved twin sister.
Victor’s new foster mother
described how he’d stutter
whenever he tried to
talk about Nubia.
But he said he
heard Nubia being
beaten to death
while he stood
bound in the bath –
three days before her
body was found.
The two of them
came into this
world together.
They’d been through so
much side-by-side.
But now she was gone.
The Barahonas were
charged with murder and
aggravated child abuse and
held in custody.
Yet, eight years on, they’re
still awaiting trial.
Prosecutors are seeking
the death penalty on the
grounds they killed Nubia
and tortured Victor.
‘This is, in my experience,
one of the saddest
commentaries on the humancondition that I’ve ever seen,’
James Loftus, Director of the
Miami-Dade Police, said
previously about the family.
‘It’s depressing, it’s
sickening to think about
the circumstances
that led two
people, working
in concert, to
perpetrate this
kind of horror on
their own children,
adopted or not.’
The case rocked
Florida’s child-
welfare agency,
and the DCF have since
admitted negligence.
Victor was awarded
several million dollars
in damages.
But he’s been left with
severe scars on his body, and
suffers ongoing chronic post
traumatic stress disorder.
The DCF say they have now
had a ‘complete revamp’.
Yet the case remains tied up
in the legal system.
And those who knew
Nubia and Victor will be
hoping one thing...
That they receive justice.