A Florida man accused of torturing two children he adopted, killing one of them, will stand trial next year on several charges, including first-degree murder, attempted murder and child abuse offenses.
Court records viewed by Us reveal Jorge Barahona’s trial was scheduled in Miami-Dade County for March 15, 2027.
Jorge, 59, is set to be tried more than 16 years after his adopted daughter, Nubia Barahona, who was 10 years old, was discovered deceased and decomposed in the back of his truck on the side of a highway in Palm Beach County, the Miami Herald reported. Chemicals were found to be covering her body.
Her twin brother, Victor, was also reportedly found inside the truck with Jorge sitting in the driver’s seat. Police said Victor was experiencing seizures due to chemical burns and that Jorge also had self-inflicted chemical burns.
An investigation revealed Jorge and his ex-wife, Carmen Barahona, extensively abused and tortured Nubia and Victor, who survived, according to the Miami Herald. The alleged abuse included beatings and binding the twins with electrical cords and shocking them while they were in a bathtub, locked inside a bathroom.
Carmen was also charged with murder in Nubia’s death. As part of a plea deal in 2020, Carmen agreed to give testimony and accepted a lifetime prison sentence, per the newspaper.
Her guilty plea came after prosecutors said they would pursue the death penalty for both Jorge and Carmen, according to NBC 6 South Florida.
Jorge’s defense attorney Stephan Lopez told the Miami Herald that he plans to help his client avoid the death penalty.
Lopez argued in an emailed statement to Us on Wednesday, September 16, that prosecutors lack enough evidence to support the charges against Jorge.
“There are many legal issues involving the Barahona case, the tragic death of this beautiful child cannot be undone by improperly stacking a list of unprovable charges against Jorge Barahona and seeking to put him to death based on those charges,” Lopez said. “The Defense wholeheartedly believes that after 15 years to gather it, the State’s case is legally insufficient and does not establish that Jorge Barahona committed the first-degree murder of Nubia.”
Nubia and Victor had lived with the Barahonas since 2004 and were adopted by the couple in 2009, according to CBS News.
Florida’s Department of Children and Families reportedly faced backlash following Nubia’s death for allegedly failing to protect the children.
Former Miami-Dade Police Department Director James Loftus described the case in March 2011 as “depressing [and] sickening,” according to ABC News.
“I don’t know how people justify this in their minds … this is subhuman,” Loftus also said.
There have been several delays in the case against Jorge, who was previously declared incompetent until the court found him competent to stand trial in July 2025, court records show.
The records also indicate Jorge has an upcoming status hearing scheduled for October 6.
About six years after Nubia’s death, Victor was awarded $3.75 million by the state of Florida in connection with the abuse he and his sister endured, per the Miami Herald. The newspaper reported Victor had been living with family members in Texas.
