Two Florida men convicted of family murders have death sentences commuted by Biden

Milena Malaver, Miami Herald on Dec 23, 2024

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Two Florida men sentenced to death after gunning down a family of four in 2006 are among 37 people on federal death row to have their sentences commuted by President Joe Biden.

Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr. were found guilty in 2009 for the execution-style killings of 28-year-old Jose Luis Escobedo, his 25-year-old wife Yessica, and their two sons, ages 3 and 4. The family was shot and left along Florida’s Turnpike near Port St. Lucie.

Troya and Sanchez Jr. stopped the Escobedo family’s Jeep in the early hours of October 13, 2006, fatally shot the family, including the young boys, and then stole the vehicle.

Troya and Ricardo will now face life without the possibility of parole instead of the death penalty.

The Escobedos had moved to Florida to join a drug trafficking ring and they were killed to settle a debt at the order of convicted drug boss Danny Varela, according to the Palm Beach Post.

President Biden’s clemency decision is part of a broader push to limit the use of capital punishment.

“He believes that America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder – which is why today’s actions apply to all but those cases,” the White House said in Monday press release.

Among those whose death sentences President Biden did not commute are Dylann Roof for the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church; Robert Bowers, who carried out the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted for the Boston Marathon bombing.

This comes after President Biden announced clemency for 1,500 Americans “who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities,” the press release said.