Men convicted of killing 6 over Xbox return to court for resentencing trial | FOX 35 Orlando
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Men convicted of killing 6 over Xbox return to court for resentencing trial

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Published  April 25, 2025 8:35pm EDT
Volusia County
FOX 35 Orlando

Resentencing hearing in Florida Xbox murder case

A resentencing hearing for two men convicted of killing six people over an Xbox is scheduled to start tomorrow. Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter were convicted in 2006 and sentenced to death.

The Brief

    • Two men convicted of killing six people over an Xbox are back in court for resentencing.
    • Their original death sentences were overturned after the Florida Supreme Court ruled the jury wasn’t unanimous.
    • A new state law allows non-unanimous jury verdicts, and opening statements will begin Monday.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Two men who murdered six people over an Xbox appeared in court on Friday as lawyers filed motions for their resentencing trial.  Opening statements in the rensentencing trials of Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter are set to begin Monday morning.

What are the "Xbox murders"?

The backstory:

In 2004, Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter, joined two other men in the killing of six roommates and a dog inside a Deltona, Florida home.

In 2008, Victorino, Hunter, and the two other men, Michael Salas, and Robert Cannon, were all convicted in what has been dubbed "the Xbox murders." 

Prosecutors argued that the motive behind the home invasion and brutal murders was to retrieve an Xbox claimed to have been stolen.

Salas and Cannon were sentenced to life in prison. Victorino, the ringleader, and Hunter were sentenced to death for the 2004 slayings.

Four men, including Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter (pictured), were convicted of the grisly 2004 killings in Deltona, Florida, known as the "Xbox murders."

Why has this case continued for so long?

What we know:

In 2017, Victorino and Hunter's sentences were overturned due to a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court. The ruling changed state law, which now stated that Florida’s death penalty had to be unanimous. Victorino and Hunter's sentences were not unanimous. The new law allowed anyone sentenced after a 2002 ruling eligible for a new sentence.

Then, in 2023, their initial resentencing trial was halted due to a motion requesting that the judge abide by the newest death penalty laws, signed into law by Gov. DeSantis, which stated all death penalties must be carried out with an 8-4 jury vote.

Mistrial declared in convicted killer's case

A Florida judge issued a mistrial after it was discovered that a juror had talked about the case to a friend outside of the courtroom. The mistrial was declared in the re-sentencing trial for convicted murderer Bessman Okafor, the State Attorney’s Office confirmed. Okafor was convicted of killing 19-year-old Alex Zaldivar, who was scheduled to serve as a witness in Okafor’s home invasion trial in 2012.

Following that motion, the judge declared the resentencing a mistrial in May, 2023.

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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Volusia County Court Communications Officer for the Seventh Judicial Circuit on April 15, 2025. 

Volusia CountyCrime and Public Safety