The case of a South Florida man accused of killing his adoptive daughter and badly abusing her twin brother could finally be heading to trial more than 16 years after the tragedy.
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The trial of 59-year-old Jorge Barahona is set to begin on March 15, 2027, according to a court document filed in Miami-Dade on Monday.
Judge Andrea Wolfson set a Nov. 15 deadline for attorneys to complete discovery and a Jan. 8 deadline to complete depositions of experts, according to the document.
Wolfson is setting aside eight weeks to try the case but the document said the attorneys have estimated that the trial will last four weeks.
Barahona is facing first-degree murder and other charges, including child abuse causing great harm, child neglect, and attempted murder in the first degree.
The case dates back to Valentine’s Day 2011, when the partially decomposed body of Barahona’s adoptive daughter, 10-year-old Nubia, was found in the back of his truck on the side of a road in Palm Beach County.
Nubia’s brother Victor survived, but was badly burned after he was doused with a toxic chemical. Barahona and his wife, Carmen, were both charged with first-degree murder in the death of Nubia.
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.
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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 has been delayed for years. At one point he was classified as incompetent to proceed before he was later found competent.
Additionally, in 2021, Barahona cut off communications with his legal team, and a judge appointed a new lawyer for him.
Then, in 2025, Barahona raised concerns with the new legal team, claiming he couldn’t trust them and that they were working with police.
In December, Judge Andrea Wolfson appointed Barahona’s now third set of court-appointed attorneys.
Since his arrest, the State of Florida has spent over $2.6 million on Barahona’s defense preparation, according to documents reviewed by NBC6.
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