Barahona Back In Miami-Dade To Face Murder Charge
MIAMI (CBS4) - The South Florida man accused of murdering his adopted daughter, and torturing both she and her twin brother, has been brought back to Miami-Dade to face murder and abuse charges.
Jorge Barahona is facing charges of attempted murder in Palm Beach County, where he was found on St. Valentine's Day in the front seat of his truck along I-95; beside him in the truck was his 10-year-old son Victor having a seizure. Police say the boy was suffering from severe chemical burns. In the back of the truck investigators found the decomposing body of Victor's twin sister Nubia.
Miami-Dade investigators determined that Nubia had been killed at the Barahona's Southwest Miami-Dade home and charged her adopted mother, Carmen Barahona, with murder and a host of child abuse charges. They also charged Jorge Barahona in her murder, and asked for him to be sent to Miami-Dade to stand trial on those charges. Last Monday, Palm Beach circuit Judge Karen Miller granted that request.
Barahona and his wife will remain behind bars until their trials because the murder charges against them carry no bond.
Miami-Dade police said the Barahonas beat Nubia to death after a long history of abusing both the twins. They often bound the children hand and foot, police claim, and forced them to sit in a bathtub for days on end. The abuse was overlooked by caseworkers for the Department of Children and Families, despite a number of warning events.
The handling of the case prompted a blue-ribbon panel investigation, and a promise by DCF to change a number of procedures to help prevent cases like the Barahonas' from falling through the cracks.
Victor Barahona and two other adopted children who had been living in the Barahonas' home when Nubia was killed have all been placed in foster care.
Barahona's attempted murder trial in Palm Beach County is set for January 30th, 2012.
