Nubia K. Doctor and her twin brother Victor were born on May 26th, 2000 to parents Sandra K. Doctor and Victor Bustio. Nubia was named after her paternal aunt and shared a middle name with her mother. Victor, of course, was named after his father. Now, there are conflicting reports as to where exactly the twins were born, with some claiming they were born at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, and others claiming that they were born in Spokane, Washington.
However, on May 29th, 2009, just a few days after their 9th birthday, the twins were adopted by Carmen and Jorge Barona. We’ll touch on why that happened a bit later on in our story. Keep in mind, Sandra had four children before the twins were born, and all of them had been taken from her. In addition to her twin, Victor, Nubia had two adopted siblings, an older brother named George, who was autistic, and a younger sister.
Nubia had blonde hair, big hazel eyes, and a bright toothy smile. She liked school, and her teachers loved her. She shared a close bond with her twin and was always watching out for him. She would even meet Victor at his classroom door at the end of every day. Even as a young girl, Nubia was kind and understanding. She once told a school counselor she understood why other kids used up all the hot water or got extra snacks.
She said they needed extra because of their special needs. She loved all of her siblings and her affection for them could be seen in family photographs. However, Nubia was born with an extremely rare medical condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia. It is caused by the lack of an enzyme called 21 hydroxilase.
Both her biological parents carried this recessive gene, meaning their children had a one in 4 chance to inherit the condition. The fraternal twin brother did not have the disease. Without the enzyme, her body produced too little cortisol, aldosterone, and androgens. Without enough cortisol, her body couldn’t respond to stress, making it hard to maintain blood pressure, blood sugar, and energy levels.
Without enough testosterone, it was hard for her body to regulate salt and potassium levels, leading to dehydration. Without enough androgens, her body struggled to grow and develop properly. Her condition was diagnosed when she was an infant. She was prescribed medication to treat the disease and to help her body grow.
She needed regular doctor’s appointments to make sure her hormone levels stayed consistent. Victor was born with a cleft pallet and had surgery as an infant to repair it. Trouble started only a few days after the twins came home from the hospital. Their mother, Sandra, was addicted to both coke and heroin. She sometimes worked as a sex worker to help pay for her addiction.
When the twins were 4 days old, DCF got a call about Sandra’s drug use. Subsequently, both Nubia and Victor were placed into foster care. At 2 months old, Victor was returned to Sandra’s care, but because of her illness, Nubia was fostered until she was 7 months old. About a year later, police were called when Sandra threw a telephone at Victor Senior.
A report was made to DCF, but they took no action. At some point during the following year, Sandra moved out. She still sometimes stayed with Victor Senior and the kids, but other times she was homeless. In 2003, Sandra was admitted to Mercy Hospital, and she told staff she’d been abusing drugs. DCF ended Sandra’s parental rights, leaving the twins in custody of their father.
According to DCF, Victor Senior, who worked in Miami as a fisherman, could give them a safe home. Nubia and Victor loved their father. At school, a DCF worker saw the kids running to him, eagerly showing off a new toy. Their interactions were positive, and Newbie and Victor both looked happy. However, the home he lived in was dirty and full of roaches.
He often didn’t have food for them. Sandra still visited screaming at Nubia and giving Victor bruises. In March of 2004, Victor Senior was arrested for essaying a little girl in the neighborhood. He was eventually found guilty of just misdemeanor battery for the incident. He also plead guilty to felony CA for touching the twins inappropriately as well.
He was sentenced to just 5 years probation. He agreed to give up any right to the twins. At that point, they were taken away and were put in foster care with Jorge and Carmen Barona. At first, it was a temporary placement. Their father wanted his brother, Aedro Reyes, and his wife, Anna, to take care of the children, but they lived out of state, and the paperwork that was required took time.
Carmen lived in West Miami Dade, Florida, with her first husband. She had been married for 24 years and had raised a family there. She had a grown son, Renee, and a grown daughter named Jennifer. 1994 she divorced her first husband. She kept the family home on Southwest 47th Terrace and Jorge moved in. It was a nice home, three bedrooms, one bath in a nice neighborhood.
Her son Renee said their family was very normal growing up. His mom Carmen worked at a pediatric doctor’s office nearby and she had for many years. He had been close to his mom even after he moved into his own place, but stopped visiting once she got remarried. He said he tried to give Jorge a chance, but said he never liked the man.
He told police that Jorge had always creeped him out. On January 19th of 1996, Carmen married Jorge. She was 45 and he was 38. The wedding happened 2 months after her divorce was finalized. Jennifer still lived in the family home when her mother remarried and said the couple seemed to get along well. However, said Jorge was controlling.
He always wanted to know where Carmen was. If she didn’t answer the phone at her desk when she was supposed to be at work, Jennifer said Jorge would lose his temper and throw a fit. Later in 1996, Jorge founded a pest management company called CJ’s Pest Exterminator. 1999, the couple became licensed foster parents.
2001, they adopted their first child named George. In 2004, a 7-month-old baby girl referred to in documents as JB was placed with the couple. That same year, both Nubia and Victor were placed in the couple’s household. In December of that year, a nurse practitioner was concerned Nubia was missing medical appointments.
Records show that both Victor and Nubia needed to go to the dentist, but Carmen and Jorge didn’t take them. Case workers were supposed to visit every 30 days to make sure the twins were doing well, but the visits didn’t happen as scheduled. And when a case worker did check in, most of the time they didn’t talk to Nubia or Victor.
Nubia and Victor started kindergarten at Royal Palm Elementary in 2005. In January of that year, Nubia told someone at the school that her father was touching her inappropriately. Staff were concerned and made a report using the Florida CA hotline. A DCF supervisor wasn’t sure if Nubia was talking about her birth father or Jorge. Suspicion fell on the birth father since he had admitted to touching the children while they were in his care and the report was closed with no investigation of Jorge.
Staff also noted an incident where Nubia accidentally wet her pants at school. Nubia’s teacher said that she would call Carmen to bring a change of clothes, but Nubia became frantic. She told the teacher Carmen would hit the bottoms of her feet with a shoe. Afterwards, Nubia locked herself in the bathroom and cried. Around this time, Anna and Eidro, the aunt and uncle, were still trying to get custody of Nubia and Victor.
Anna was a stay-at-home mom, and Eidro was a teacher. They had been married for 26 years and had three grown children. They wrote in their application that they had a large home, support from extended family, and plenty of love for the twins. They had completed the out ofstate requirements, and had been approved by the state of Florida.
But Carmen and Jorge did not want to let Nubia and Victor go. Instead, they filed paperwork to try to adopt the twins. February of 2006, Nubia showed up at school with bruises on her chin and neck. After a report via hotline, DCF made the couple take Nubia to a state doctor in Miami. The doctor, a member of a government child protection team, believed Carmen and Jorge when they said Nubia had fallen.
Investigation was subsequently closed. In March of 2007, Nubia was nervous, jittery, and losing her hair. She was always hungry and she started stealing food from the teachers and other children. She was hoarding food and taking it home. She was dirty and ungroomed. She came to school smelling of feces and stale urine.
Her nose often appeared scratch. She fell down a lot. The school made another report to DCF. Carmen blamed the smell, hunger, scratches, and other signs on Nubia’s medical issues. Harmon told the DCF worker that the medical issues with Nubia’s private parts caused the smell. According to Carmen, and mind you, these are all her own words, Nubia was considered interex.
In fact, Carmen often used this as an excuse and it worked. DCF accepted Carmen’s explanation even though it wasn’t even true. Meanwhile, Nubia was still missing medical appointments. When she did go, Carmen and Jorge put the seven-year-old girl in a medical bus that would drop her off at the doctor’s office. Nubia had to do the rest all by herself.
One of DCF’s own case workers noted, “This child is very medically needy and should not be missing appointments because the foster parent does not want to take her.” At one of these appointments, Nubia told doctors she was afraid something terrible was going to happen to her. She also said, and this is a 7-year-old girl, said she wanted to unal alive herself.
The doctors believed Nubia was depressed. The foster review panel told Carmen and Jorge to arrange for Nubia to go to therapy, and they did not. Still, DCF believed the couple’s story about her condition and did nothing to make them take better medical care of her. They since closed the investigation. Paul Newman, who is the guardian ad lightum for the twins, did not believe Carmen and Jorge.
Newman was a volunteer advocate. He was supposed to figure out what was best for Nubia and Victor. He spoke to school staff and DCF case workers. He read all the reports. He visited the twins at school during their lunch hour. He talked to their aunt and uncle in Texas. He did not think the twins were safe and did not think Carmen and Jorge should be allowed to adopt them.
Even went as far to speak out against them at a pre-adoption hearing in September of 2007. School staff also spoke at the pre-adoption hearing, providing testimony about the many incidents they had witnessed. They also spoke about the DCF reports they had submitted. In response to their testimony, the judge in charge of the hearing ordered a psychological evaluation of Nubia.
The evaluation did not occur until 5 months later. In a series of letters, Carmen and Jorge claimed Newman didn’t like them. First, they wrote to the administrator of the foster agency they worked with. Later, they wrote to Florida Governor Charlie Christ. They claimed Mr. Newman was conspiring against them, tampering with witnesses, and violating their civil rights. On February 12th, 2008, Dr.
Vanessa Archer performed the court-ordered psychological evaluation. She did not have access to much of the critical information about Nubia. She couldn’t see school records and didn’t know Nubbie and Victor had to repeat first grade because they were performing poorly. Her report said the twins were excelling academically, which was not true.
She didn’t have the information about the reports of possible CA or descriptions of Nubia’s behavior and demeanor at school. Details of Dr. Archer’s meeting with Nubia were not recorded anywhere. However, a judge familiar with Dr. Archer and her work described another case that he observed. That case, the doctor did all her preparation for testimony in 10 minutes.
In that short amount of time, she reviewed the medical notes and spoke briefly with the child and foster mother. The judge referred to these actions as driveby diagnosis. On February 22nd, Dr. Archer filed her report saying that Nubia and Victor had bonded with their foster parents. Removing them, she said, would cause undue harm.
In her words, adoption by Carmen and Jorge was clearly in their best interest and should proceed with no further delay. Driveby diagnosis indeed. In March of that year, photos showed all four children posed with their Easter baskets. On their birthday in May, the twins shared a birthday cake. Nubia smiled for the camera.
On August 8th, the foster care review panel noted that Nubia still had not received any therapy. A DCF assessment from around that time reported that the couple’s home appeared neat and clean, free from odors and clutter. The cupboards were well stocked, and the yard was nicely manicured. Case workers seemed more focused on the appearance of safety instead of actual safety.
In October, Nubia appeared thinner. She dressed up as a princess in a pink gown and posed in family photos with the other children. On Christmas Day, all four children posed in front of the Christmas tree. Nubia opened presents, a painting set, a Bratz doll purse, and a Disney princess blanket. Neighbors noticed the house changed after Jorge moved in.
They don’t remember exactly when the changes happened, but by 2009, the house seemed like a fortress. A tall wooden fence enclosed the back of the property. An electronic gate was installed in front of the driveway, and it was often locked. Beware of dog signs warned visitors away, and surveillance cameras recorded anyone approaching the house.
Large bushes on either side hid the front door from view. That year, all the children were missing a lot of school. A school employee made a home visit. The gate was open and Jorge’s red pesticide company truck was in the driveway. Nobody answered the door, so she left a letter.
Carmen called the school 4 days later and said Nubia needed a medical procedure. School staff noticed the twins were being treated differently. George and the younger girl appeared clean when they came to school, but Nubia and Victor were dirty. Carmen brought cupcakes to celebrate George’s birthday in April, but didn’t bring cupcakes for the twins a month later.
Family photos showed Nubie and Victor posing with a birthday cake on May 25th, but there were no presents in the photos. 4 days later, the adoption was finalized on May 29th. The twins were photographed in front of the courthouse. The judge for the adoption relied heavily on Dr. Archer’s evaluation when making the decision.
The adoption was allowed because her reports that the twins had already bonded with Carmen and Jorge. In the Halloween photos that year, Nubia looked bony and unwell with large eyes and prominent cheekbones. Nubia did not appear in the Christmas photos. Only Victor, George, and the younger girl posed in front of the tree. Life in the Barraona home was getting more difficult.
The family had secrets, but nobody was telling. Neighbor James Shepard said that Jorge was struggling with his mood or maybe drugs in April of 2010. He said that his hair was a mess and his eyes appear glazed. According to the neighbor, Jorge seemed super paranoid. He talked about people breaking in and keeping your gates locked.
He seemed afraid of an undefined conspiracy. That same month, teachers reported Nubia smelled so strongly that other students started to complain. School counselor Carol Pena began meeting with Nubia a few times a week. Even though their meetings happened at the end of the day, Nubia still smelled like old urine. When Nubia stole chocolate from a teacher at school, Miss Pena asked her why.
Nubia said she was hungry. So the counselor arranged for her to get milk and fruit at school twice a day. Miss Pena started to meet with Nubia every day she came to school so that Carmen seemed annoyed by her efforts to help the little girl. In May of 2010, there were no photos of the twins on their 10th birthday. At school, Nubia had asked Joanne Munz, the PTA president, if she would make their cupcakes.
Miss Munes baked them cupcakes and brought them to school, but neither Nubia nor Victor were there that day. Nubia missed two weeks of school in May and another week in June. She said they went to Disney World in June, but Miss Pena didn’t believe her. In all, Miss Pena met with Nubia 20 times. Nubia never revealed any of the problems at home.
She said she loved her mom and dad. During one of their meetings, Nubia described a disturbing dream. In it, buildings were on fire. Her dad was shooting people in the dream, and then he turned and shot her. On June 9th, Miss Pena called the DCFCA hotline to report a case of suspected abuse. like she had been in March of 2007. Nubia was again jittery.
Her hair was falling out. She was uncontrollably hungry. The excuses Carmen had used to explain Nubia’s many absences seemed suspicious. Carmen said Nubia had a medical procedure, but the notes weren’t from Nubia’s regular doctor. June 24th, DCF dismissed this case with no further action.
That summer, Carmen and Jorge removed the twins from public school. The couple said they plan to homeschool the children, but that year only George and the younger daughter were photographed in front of their Christmas tree. On February 10th, 2011, DCF received an urgent phone call from a children’s therapist. Carmen’s granddaughter, now 6 years old, told the therapist that she knew a family secret.
She said Nubia and Victor were tied up and forced to sit in the bathtub. DCF investigator Andrea Flary was sent to look for the twins. She spoke to Carmen who said that Jorge and the twins had moved out, which wasn’t true at all. Carmen later admitted she lied to the investigator. Miss Flary did not check the house.
She never looked in the bathtub. She didn’t see Nubia or Victor, but she filled out her paperwork. She checked a box that said she had notified the police of the situation. She had not. She checked another box that indicated the twins were safe. They were not. She stopped looking for them around 9:00 p.m. on Friday.
When asked why, she said DCF didn’t do investigations on the weekend. On February 12th, a Saturday, Jorge showed up at his sister Laura Barona’s house. He was surprised to see Jorge. She had not seen or spoken to her brother in 3 years. Jorge had Victor with him. Young boy had a cut on his lip that was so deep that Laura thought he needed stitches.
When asked about the cut, he said Victor had fallen and hurt himself. Jorge told his sister that he had nowhere to go, claiming that he and Carmen had separated. Told Laura that he lost Nubia, that she had run away while they were at a motel. When she pressed him for more information, he changed his story and said Nubia was at home with Carmen.
A little later, while feeding Victor, she noticed he had bruises on his wrists as if he had been tied up. Laura was so concerned she called her brother Julio and asked him to contact DCF. Julio called the DCF hotline. Instead of sending police to Laura’s house, the hotline counselor told Julio someone would look into it, but not that day, maybe in 24 hours.
The hotline counselor did not know that investigator Flary was looking for Nubia or Victor. Desperate to get help, Julio drove to a local police station where he was provided a phone number for DCF. He called and left a message. However, when DCF called back the next day, they told him to talk to the police.
Meanwhile, Jorge and Victor left Laura’s house, leaving no clue as to where they went. They did, however, leave a bag behind. We’ll talk about what was in that bag in a little bit. Meanwhile, Laura continued to call DCF all weekend long, but still got no help. She went to three different police stations in Broward County, Miami, and Miami Dade, asking if they could issue an Amber Alert.
Police were unable to help her. Finally, on Monday, February 14th, DCF investigator Andrea Feleri called Laura, but it was already too late. On Valentine’s Day, Miami Road Ranger Thomas Butler spotted a red pickup truck on the northbound shoulder of I95 in West Palm Beach. When he pulled over to investigate, he noticed the driver’s seat was empty.
He saw a young boy inside the truck shivering and shaking. A 5gallon gas tank sat on the seat next to him. When Ranger Butler opened the truck door, terrible fumes poured out. The boy had been dowsted with chemicals and was severely burned. Next to the truck, a man was passed out and unresponsive.
Ranger Butler called 911 in the Florida Highway Patrol and paramedics responded to the scene. The boy was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment while the man was taken to Columbia Hospital. were later identified as Victor and Jorge. The chemical fumes at the scene were so strong that four of the emergency responders needed medical treatment after being exposed to them.
It took police days to sort through all the acids and poisons found in this truck. Doctors struggled to treat Victor because they just didn’t know what chemicals they were trying to neutralize. Victor’s injuries were so extensive that he was close to death. He had been dowsed with chemicals and gasoline.
Jorge had tried to set him on fire. He had severe burns on his stomach, upper thighs, and butt. He had been beaten so hard that the scar from his cleft pallet surgery had ripped open. He also had older scars that indicated long-term abuse. He had scars and damage that was consistent with SA. His arm and collar bone had been broken. He had bruising and indentations on his wrists.
He had been tied up for so long, for such long periods of time. Because of all the chemicals and fumes in the pesticide truck, police brought in a hazmat team to decontaminate it. In the back of the truck, workers found a black garbage bag. When they went to move it, they felt what they thought was a human hand and immediately called on the state troopers for help.
Inside the bag, they found the body of a little girl that had been folded into the fetal position. Her body had been covered with chemicals police later identified as pineol, gasoline, liquid chlorine, chlorine tablets, and Drano. She was unclothed and was decomposing. They had found Nubia. At Colia Hospital, officers interviewed Jorge where he waved his Mirandaite.
He told him he was distraught over the death of his daughter, that he was intending to self-cancel himself. He said he gave Victor a handful of sleeping pills, dumped gasoline over himself, then tried to set himself on fire. He said he couldn’t do it because Victor was there. When police pointed out the lack of burns on Jorge and the severity of Victor’s injuries, Jorge said some of the gasoline must have splashed onto the boy.
Their arrest warrant, police said the evidence on scene did not match Jorge’s story, nor would he share with the officers just how Nubia died. Jorge was arrested on February 14th, 2011 and charged with first-degree homicide, attempted homicide for what he did to Victor, and multiple counts of aggravated CA. After his arrest, Carmen Barona first claimed she did not know what was happening in her own home.
She then claimed she was one of his victims, too. She called him a psycho. She said he was jealous and controlling, constantly accusing her of cheating on him. She said he treated the children very badly, claiming that Jorge hit her and the children with shoes. She admitted she’d come home a couple times and saw that Jorge had the twins in a corner tied with tape.
She said Jorge threatened to kill her if she didn’t keep quiet. Soon Carmen filed for divorce from Jorge. She also petitioned for full custody of the surviving children. This was denied. All three children were placed in a therapeutic foster home. Foster parents and therapeutic homes have additional training to deal with trauma and provide an environment where children can heal.
In the hospital, Victor did get better quickly. Doctors called it a miracle recovery. After 11 days in the hospital, he was well enough to be discharged. Paul Newman, the guardian adam who fought against the adoption, visited him in the hospital. Victor was able to move around and bathe himself.
He told nurses he wanted a hamburger, but no mustard. He talked about cartoons and Pokemon cards, and Paul was amazed to see this. When he first visited the hospital, Victor could barely mutter a couple of words. But less than two weeks later, he was chatty and seemed very happy. Police spoke to Jorge again.
He told them he had to punish Nubia and Victor because they were poisoning him and the other siblings with rat poison. He also thought Nubia was putting baby oil in his soft drinks. Police had collected the bag Jorge left at his sister’s house. In it, they found baby oil, used tape, and a pump. The kind men might buy at adult toy stores.
Jorge told the police he would punish the twins by taping their hands and feet with clear packing tape. He then made them sit in a corner of the dining room. Sometimes he would take them into the bathroom and close the door. In the bathroom, he would pray for the twins to try to get them to accept Jesus. However, Victor and the other children told a very different story.
As far back as January of 2010, Jorge beat, punched, and restrained the twins. He bound their wrists and ankles with tape and confined them in the tub, sometimes for days. Often, Jorge sedated the twins with sleeping pills and allergy medicine when he didn’t want them to be able to fight back against him.
They were only allowed to eat once a week. When they were fed, they were often forced to eat in the bathtub. They’re only given milk and bread. The rest of the family ate hearty meals, but the twins weren’t even allowed to have their scraps. Any leftovers were given to their family dog. This explained Nubia’s hunger and why she was hoarding food. The twins were being starved.
Jorge was not the only one responsible. George, the older son, told police that when Nubia was bad, Carmen would tape her wrist. He said Carmen was a nice woman, but in his words, she was deep in the dark side. She’s mean. Carmen’s granddaughter was 6 years old when Nubia died.
She told police that she asked Carmen why Nubia and Victor could only eat bread and milk. Carmen’s answer was, “That’s what they deserved.” Carmen was arrested on March 5th. She was charged with first-degree homicide and multiple counts of CA and child neglect. No bail was offered for her. After he was released from the hospital, Victor was placed in a therapeutic foster home.
He told his foster mother, Katya Garcia, that Jorge had been mean and violent since the twins moved in. Katya said Victor opened up a little at a time. Once he saw a picture of ice water, he remembered Jorge pouring the water over him while they were tied up in the bathtub. He remembered Jorge poured bleach over them sometimes, too.
He said their homeschooling lasted for 2 days. After that, the beatings became more frequent. Jorge shaved Victor’s hair and Nubia’s hair, too, leaving them bald and vulnerable. Sometimes Jorge tied them up with rope or wire. The wire cut Nubia’s feet. Jorge would make her dip her wounded feet in Clorox or pine salt.
Victor then showed his foster mother how Jorge tied them up. Sometimes they were hog tied. Sometimes Jorge taped their mouth shut. Sometimes he was forced to crouch down. His hands were tied underneath his legs, forcing his body to be in a tight ball. Once Jorge glued his eyes shut with crazy glue.
Another time, Jorge made him eat a cockroach. Still another time, Jorge poured hot sauce in Victor’s eyes, nose, and mouth. Several times, Jorge held a plastic bag over Victor’s head and choked him until he passed out. Jorge also tried to drown him. Many times, Victor was afraid that he was going to die. Some of the torture left scars on Victor’s body.
Jorge whipped him with a mob handle, leaving a large scar on his head. He had whipped marks on his back and a large scar on his lip from a vicious punch. Scars at the creases of his mouth were caused by a sock tied around his head, shoved into his mouth to silence him. The other children told police similar stories. The younger adoptive daughter was 7 years old when Nubia died.
Said Jorge would give her the shoe when she was bad. She also said she used to share a bathroom with Nubia, but then Nubia started sleeping in the bathroom. Carmen’s granddaughter said the time she spent at the home on 47th Terrace was very scary. She said she saw Jorge choke Victor and try to drown him. She said she wasn’t allowed to go to the bathroom without supervision.
The shower curtain was always closed, but sometimes she could still see Victor and Nubia in the bathtub. They were naked and tied up with ropes or tape. She also saw the twins forced to stand in a large garbage and recycling bin outside, sometimes for as long as 2 days without clothing. She said Carmen and Jorge forced the twins to strip and walk around the living room. The other children had to watch.
She also saw Jorge in bed with Nubia once. She said Jorge forced her and the other children, including Victor and Nubia, to play doctor. He made them touch each other. Her mother, Carmen’s oldest daughter, Jennifer, told the girl that she would be in big trouble if she told anyone about their family secret.
But on February 10th, she worked up the courage to tell her therapist what she had seen. The therapist made the call to DCF that resulted in DCF investigator Andrea Fleer visiting the house at 47th Terrace. While Carmen was busy spinning up lies, telling her the children had moved out with Jorge.
Seems like the children were tied up in the home’s bathtub, but investigator Fleer never checked. Victor told police he last saw his sister on February 11th in the bathtub. They had both been confined for an extended period of time, maybe days. They were naked and bound around their wrists and ankles. Jorge grabbed Nubia and carried her to the bedroom.
Victor heard Jorge punch and beat her for a long time. He heard Nubia’s screams. She went silent. Thought she was dead. He asked Carmen where Nubia was. He said they sent her to California. Later, the medical examiner would determine Nubia’s cause of death was blunt force trauma caused by the beating that Victor heard.
Prosecutors indicated their intention to seek the death penalty for both Carmen and Jorge. 9 years later, on February 21st, 2020, Carmen accepted a plea deal for life in prison. As part of the plea agreement, she must testify against her husband when he goes to trial. On March 1st, 2021, Jorge was attacked by five other inmates at the Miami Dade County Jail while he slept in his cell.
A small consolation for the unspeakable acts that he put poor Nubia through. As of the date of this recording, Jorge has still not been tried. He has had dozens of hearings and multiple trial dates. He’s changed lawyers several times. His most recent hearing was scheduled for October 16th, 2023. Most of the delays have been at Jorge’s request.
This case has now been dragged out longer than Nubia was alive. In the wake of the incident, Victor moved to Texas to live with his uncle Acedro and his aunt Anna. He was eventually adopted by the couple. The state of Florida awarded Victor, George, and his adopted sister a $5 million settlement.
Took a long time and a lot of fighting with the state of Florida. The settlement was finally made in full in 2017 when Victor was 16. On March 10th of 2011, Florida Department of Children and Families released what they called the Nubia report. A panel examined Nubia’s life and identified improvements DCF could make to prevent another child from dying in a situation.
They immediately improved training at the call center so that urgent calls are now passed on to police. They also hired more social workers and created a career path to help retain workers. They recommended a new phone system software that group multiple calls about the same child into a single case document.
They suggested other changes to their computer software so that everyone involved with a child’s case would have an easy way to get a complete record of all the critical information. In October of 2011, the intersection of Southwest 117th Avenue and 47th Terrace was renamed Newbie Away. a street just a few blocks from the house where she lived the last seven years of her life was part of a campaign to publicize a new CA hotline residents can call if they suspect abuse.
On February 27th, 2011, Joanne Munz, the PTA president who baked cupcakes for the twins 10th birthday, held a memorial for Nubia at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Miami Dade County. She thought school was a sanctuary for the children, a place they could feel safe and loved. She said she understands now how maybe that one day you gave that child a hug or stopped to say something to them in a hallway.
That little extra may have meant more to them than you ever realized. At the memorial, she read the poem Little Angels. That poem seems a good way to mourn the loss of a little girl with a bright smile. It reads, “When God calls little children to dwell with him above, we mortals sometimes question the wisdom of his love.
For no heartache compares with the death of one small child, who does so much to make our world seem wonderful and mild.” Perhaps God tires of calling the age to his fold. So he picks a rose bud before it can grow old. God knows how much we need them, so he takes but few. to make the land of heaven more beautiful to view. So when a child departs, we who are left behind must realize God loves children.
Angels are hard to find.
