More than 13 years after a 10-year-old girl was killed and her twin brother was found badly abused and doused with toxic chemicals in South Florida, their adoptive father accused in the shocking crime has been found incompetent to stand trial. Jorge Barahona, 56, was found incompetent to stand trial during a hearing Friday morning.
More than 13 years after a 10-year-old girl was killed and her twin brother was found badly abused and doused with toxic chemicals in South Florida, their adoptive father accused in the shocking crime has been found incompetent to stand trial.
Jorge Barahona, 56, was found incompetent to stand trial by a judge Friday morning at a brief hearing.
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Judge Andrea Wolfson made the determination after he was evaluated by three doctors, and two found him incompetent.
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"The court finds that if this case were to proceed to a competency hearing, that the doctors would testify consistent with their reports, at that time the court would utilize that testimony as evidence in order to make an independent finding of competency or incompetency for Mr. Barahona," Wolfson said at the hearing. "The court in evaluating those reports is now prepared to adjudicate Mr. Barahona incompetent to proceed."
Barahona will be transferred to a facility overseen by the Department of Children and Families and receive treatment. If his condition improves to the point where the judge finds he can assist his attorneys in his own defense, he would be returned to Miami-Dade County corrections and the criminal prosecution against him will resume.
It's just the latest shocking development in a case that has been more than a decade in the making.
Jorge Barahona and his wife Carmen were both charged with first-degree murder in the death of 10-year-old Nubia, their adoptive daughter. Her body was found partially decomposed in the back of Jorge's truck on Valentine's Day 2011 on the side of a road in Palm Beach County.
Her brother Victor survived, but was badly burned after he was doused with a toxic chemical.
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Authorities said the couple abused the twins for months inside their west Miami-Dade home, keeping them locked in a bathroom for days at a time with their hands and feet bound.
The twins had originally been placed in the Barahona home under foster care, then were adopted by the couple.
Prosecutors had announced that they'd seek the death penalty against the couple, but Carmen Barahona pleaded guilty in 2020 in exchange for cooperating in the prosecution of her husband.
Jorge Barahona's trial was scheduled for April 2020, but was postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2021, he cut off communications with his legal team and a judge appointed a new lawyer for him.
The case roiled the state Department of Children & Families because despite numerous complaints about abuse of the twins, little was done to protect them. Victor Barahona later received $3.75 million to complete a settlement with DCF.
In a statement, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle called Friday's development "frustrating" but said it's not over.
"I regret that the horrific case against Jorge Barahona is yet again delayed. The psychologists’ opinions that he cannot assist his new attorney in mounting his own legal defense is frustrating to all," the statement read. "Hopefully, he will be found to be competent to stand trial soon, and this case will finally move forward providing justice for Nubia and her twin brother Victor.”
