Jorge Barahona Charged with Murder of Nubia Barahona UPDATED

Breaking news this afternoon: “Miami-Dade Police charged Jorge Barahona with first-degree murder today, stating in its warrant that the 54-year-old exterminator “repeatedly punched and beat Nubia” until she was dead at his home in western Miami-Dade on Feb. 11.”

These new charges were announced at a police press conference a short time ago.
Jorge Barahona Charged with Murder in Death of Adopted Daughter, 10
[The Palm Beach Post 3/7/11 by Ana M. Valdes]

“Nubia’s twin brother, Victor, told detectives that he heard his adoptive father, Jorge Barahona, beating his sister to death on Friday, Feb. 11, while Victor remained bound and locked in the bathroom of the house. Barahona’s wife, Carmen, later told Victor that his sister “had been sent away,” the police reports say.

“The arrest reports describe a routine of physical beatings and neglect suffered by Nubia and Victor since January 2010.”

“Miami-Dade police and prosecutors assumed control of the death investigation after Victor, after a stay in the hospital, suggested to detectives that Nubia’s fatal injuries were inflicted inside the family’s West Miami-Dade home.”

Police: Girl Was killed Day after DCF Visit
[The Miami Herald 3/7/11 by David Ovalle]

“Ten-year old Nubia and her twin brother Victor were made to stand in the bathtub, bound with tape, for hours at a time.”

“The warrant also states Victor who was treated for a cleft palate when he was born failed to receive the proper care when his scar opened.

“He has not received the necessary medical attention causing further facial injury and disfigurement,” the warrant states.”

“Sources told CBS4 I-Team investigator Jim DeFede that the autopsy found Nubia died from “blunt force trauma” and that her chest was caved in. “It was as if someone had stomped on her,” according to the source.”

MDPD Top Cop Calls Barahona Case ‘Sickening’
[CBS Miami 3/7/11]

Update: The Miami-Dade County grand jury indicts Jorge and Carmen “on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect in the slaying of their adopted 10-year-old daughter, Nubia.

Police had already charged the couple with the murder of Nubia.”
“Authorities had originally charged the Barahonas with first-degree murder and seven counts each of aggravated child abuse and child neglect.

The grand jury indictment added three more charges that include a neglect count for the husband and wife relating to a third child, the couple’s 11-year-old adopted son.

In addition, Jorge Barahona was charged with another abuse count for allegedly punching Victor in the lip, and a felony charge for the alleged abuse to Nubia’s corpse.”

“Investigators say that the twins suffered hellish abuse at the hands of their parents at their West Miami-Dade, tied hand and foot, confined to a bathtub, beaten, starved and tortured. The girl was beaten with a “shoe,” “broom” or “whip,” according to the indictment.”

Miami-Dade grand jury indicts Barahonas .
[The Miami Herald 3/23/11 by David Ovalle]

Update 2: During Jorge’s and Carmen’s joint appearance, prosecutors stated that they will seek the death penalty.
Miami couple denies abuse, murder of girl
[UPI 3/28/11]

Update 3: “Statements made by a South Florida couple who face first-degree murder charges for the death of their 10-year-old adoptive daughter Nubia will remain sealed, a judge ruled Thursday[August 25, 2011]”

“On Thursday, Judge Sarah Zabel said that she would review documents that have not been made public and decide on a case by case basis if she would release them.

In her decision, Zabel wrote, “The Defendant’s motions to restrict disclosure of the statement of the Defendants is GRANTED.”

It’s a ruling that many news operations, including CBS4 News and The Miami Herald, had opposed.”

“Defense attorneys for Jorge and Carmen Barahona argue that releasing more details about the case that exposed flaws in Florida’s child welfare system could taint a potential jury pool and prevent a fair trial.”
Judge Rules To Seal Barahona Statements‎
[CBS Miami 8/25/11 by Associated Press]

For more Barahona family posts, see here.

Update 4: State’s evidence was released to the media on November 2, 2011 following an October 6, 2011 ruling that would allow some evidence to be released. Hundreds of photographs were released. See the video at Photos released of Barahona home [Local 10 11/2/11]

“Detectives believe Nubia was murdered in the Barahona’s bedroom days earlier. A cutting from the Barahona’s mattress is seen among the evidence photos.

Other evidence photos include a darkened room where detective’s chemicals illuminated remnants of bloodstains otherwise invisible; Nubia’s bedroom, messy and filled with stuffed animals and religious art; and, the home’s front door with several locks on it.

The evidence released included a hand drawn map of the house, initialed by Carmen, indicating where the twins would have time out and be tied up. Her bedroom contains stick figures in prone positions, which could be considered a graphic confession of abuse.”

And this important piece:

“Her verbal confession to detectives has been redacted from the evidence made public, according to a judge’s ruling.”

We mentioned in an August 25, 2011 update here that statements made by Jorge and Carmen about the case would remain sealed.

Originally, they were to go on trial on July 18, 2011. In June 2011, the trial was postponed and the status hearing was scheduled for October 6, 2011, the result of which was this evidence being shared
Photos released in Barahona Case [NBC Miami 11/2/11]

Jorge and Carmen Tried Separately?

“A Miami-Dade judge will decide whether Carmen and Jorge Barahona, charged in the torture-murder slaying of their adopted 10-year-old daughter Nubia, should be tried separately.

It is not unusual for co-defendants to be tried by jury separately if they give statements to police that could incriminate the other. In this case, prosecutors have not decided whether they will use the Barahonas’ statements, although Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Gail Levine told the judge Tuesday she “is leaning toward not using” them as evidence.

Carmen and Jorge Barahona are accused of torturing and murdering Nubia, their adopted 10-year-old daughter, inside their West Miami-Dade house. Her twin brother, Victor, was starved, tortured and beaten, prosecutors say.

Defense attorneys for the Barahonas had asked Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel to try the two separately.”

“Prosecutors and a lawyer acting as a guardian for Victor said they don’t want separate trials because of the toll it could take on Victor, who is living with relatives in Texas. Victor could also testify in the attempted murder case against Jorge Barahona in Palm Beach County.

The children in this case, especially Victor, “have been through such horrible circumstances that everything possible to minimize any additional trauma should be considered,” Frances Feinberg, of Florida’s Guardian Ad Litem program, wrote in a court motion.

Although Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel told lawyers she may rule by late Tuesday, a trial is likely years away. “

Miami-Dade judge considers trying Carmen and Jorge Barahona separately
[The Miami Herald 11/8/11 by David Ovalle]

“A judge has decided to wait on whether to try the Miami couple accused of beating their adoptive daughter together or separately, it was ruled Wednesday.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel deferred a defendant’s motion to hold two separate trials against Carmen and Jorge Barahona, until it gets closer to the trial date.”

“The motion was filed as prosecutors decide whether to use statements allegedly made by the Barahonas against each other, though prosecutors said Tuesday they were leaning towards not using the statements at trial.”

“Photos were also released on Wednesday, showing the twins during a birthday party, Nubia playing with another girl, playing in a house, dressed up in costumes and other events. Jorge and Carmen Barahona are also in some photos.

Previously, the state attorney’s office had released photos of the crime scene and the Barahona home, including a bathtub where prosecutors say the twins were bound at their hands and feet and held for months as they were beaten and starved.”

Judge Delays Decision on Separating Barahona Trial
[NBC Miami 11/9/11 by Brian Hamacher]

Update 5: From the November 2011 evidence released, it shows that Jorge’s sister, Laura, a nurse and mandated reporter, chose NOT to report Jorge for obvious marks on Victor. She was concerned more about Jorge being arrested than for Victor’s welfare.  It appears that Nubia was already dead as they spent the day and night there without her and apparently the relatives did not press them hard enough about where Nubia was?

“He had a beard and lost over 35 or 40 pounds, Laura Barahona told investigators during a March 2011 interview.

Laura was describing her brother, Jorge, the Saturday in February when, she says, Jorge showed up at her Miami home. She hadn’t seen her brother in 3 years, she said.

Laura’s interview is one of more than a dozen new elements released by the Miami State Attorney’s Office. The heavily redacted documents were made public 10 months after Jorge’s truck was discovered on Valentine’s Day along I-95, just north of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.

It was there that Jorge’s adoptive daughter, 10-year-old Nubia, was found inside, her young body stuffed in a black plastic bag. Her twin brother, Victor, was also found at the scene, trembling and soaked in chemicals.

Jorge and his wife, Carmen, are now facing murder charges and a slew of child abuse charges.

In her interview with investigators, Laura Barahona’s sister described Jorge’s visit. According to Laura, Jorge and Nubia’s twin brother, Victor, showed up at her home Saturday morning. Jorge, she described, looked skinny and Victor looked bruised.

“The first thing I noticed was the cut on his lip,” she described Victor. “It was like a child with a cleft lip.”

Laura went on to tell investigators how the two spent that night. But their visit, she said was, “the weirdest thing.”

Laura, who is employed as a nurse, noticed marks on Victor’s wrists and ankles. She also said she wanted to call police, but Jorge discouraged her, making a gesture like he was going to get arrested.

Over the next 12 hours, his visit prompted family-wide concern and reaction. That Saturday night, Laura and one of Jorge’s brother’s stopped by Jorge’s home. There, they met with Carmen who broke down when Laura asked her if Jorge abused her.

But despite repeated questions by family members, Jorge and Carmen reportedly remained vague and unclear over what was going on and neither could answer the question, ‘Where was Nubia?'”

New Barahona documents reveal family members suspected abuse issues
[WPTV 12/8/11 by Katie LaGrone]

Update 6: “James Sheppard, 49, who lived next to Barahona and his wife, Carmen, for years before they were arrested and charged with murdering their adopted daughter, said that the couple mainly kept to themselves but that he did have occasional conversations with Jorge from yard to yard.

“He was always talking about conspiracy, about people breaking in, or keeping your gates locked,” Sheppard said, according to transcripts of his March 15 interview with investigators. “He was really paranoid, super paranoid.”

“In another interview released this week, Yovani Perez, formerly married to Carmen Barahona’s daughter, Jennifer, and the father of the Barahonas’ 6-year-old granddaughter, said the girl, who often went to the Barahona house after school, came back with frightening stories in the days before the twins were found.

She said the twins were bound hand and foot, tied together and placed in the bathtub, where they spent hours. Perez asked his daughter why that was done to them and, according to Perez, the girl said Carmen had explained it to her:

“Because those are bad kids and they want to poison [Carmen] and Jorge,” the girl allegedly said. “And that those kids have already put alcohol and some poison in their food.”

In interviews with Carmen, released earlier, she told investigators that her husband was afraid because the children had threatened to kill him with rat poison and they had also put baby oil in his soda.

After hearing his daughter’s account, Perez arranged to have the girl taken for counseling, and that meeting led the therapist, Lisa Reis, to call the hotline of the Department of Children & Families to report the possible abuse.

That was Feb. 10, but the DCF was not able to find the twins in time to save Nubia, who police think was beaten to death by Jorge, probably on Feb. 11.”

Neighbor said Jorge Barahona was ‘super paranoid,’ records show
[Sun-Sentinel 12/9/11 by John Lantigua/The Palm Beach Post]

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