Biden commutes death sentences for West Palm Beach family's 2 killers to life in prison
WASHINGTON — Outgoing President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the death sentences of two men who murdered a West Palm Beach family on Florida's Turnpike to life in prison.
Ricardo Sanchez, Jr., and Daniel Troya, who shot and killed a mother, father and their two young children 18 years ago, won't be executed.
Biden granted clemency to 37 of the 40 federal inmates facing death sentences, commuting their sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The three inmates who didn't receive clemency are the convicted murderer in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, the gunman at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston and the surviving Boston Marathon bomber.
In Florida, the family was killed in the morning of October 13, 2006, when the two men stopped the family's Jeep Cherokee along Florida's Turnpike, outside of Fort Pierce.
The bodies of Jose Luis Escobedo, Luis Damian Escobedo, Luis Julian Escobedo and Yessica Guerro Escobedo were left along the highway. Sanchez and Troya drove off in their Dodge Ram van and the Escobedo's black Jeep Cherokee.
Investigators leared Jose Luis Escobedo was involved in cocaine trafficking. They soon linked Escobedo to Sanchez and Troya, along with a third person, identified as Danny Varela.
Law enforcement officers discovered more than kilogram of cocaine, approximately 30 grams of crack cocaine, and 30 tablets of ecstasy. Investigators found more than a dozen guns, including handguns, rifles and shotguns.
Al three men were arrested in connection with the drugs and guns, as well as two others, identified as Liana Lopez and Jose Gutierrez, respectively.
In May 2009, Sanchez and Troya were convicted on 11 charges. That day they were given life in prison and five years of supervised released.
Outgoing St. Lucie County Sheriff's Sheriff Keith Pearson strongly disagreed with Biden's decision.
"Where is the justice for the Escobedo family that was murdered in cold blood?" Pearson said in a statement the CBS affiliate WPEC. "Waking up to news that Joe Biden commuted the death sentence for Ricardo Sanchez (Jr.) and Daniel Troya, minimizing it to a life sentence, is disheartening."
