Family slain

Jose and Yessica Escobedo with sons Luis Julian (left) and Luis Damian (right). Husband, wife and two children from Greenacres found shot to death off Florida’s Turnpike in northern Port St. Lucie. More news, photos

More than a month ago, a federal grand jury for the first time saw the bullet-riddled bodies of Jose Luis Escobedo and his family as they lay dead on Florida’s Turnpike.

Today they may begin deciding the fates of four people accused of participating in the drug ring prosecutors say eventually led to the family’s deaths. Two of those men, Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez, could face death if convicted on charges related to the deaths.

Testimony in the case ended with more pictures Tuesday as defense attorneys tried in less than two hours to counter weeks of testimony from government witnesses who gave jurors a view into the alleged drug empire headed by Danny Varela that brought high quantities of cocaine to South Florida and gun violence to Palm Beach County streets.

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Guns. Drugs. Money.

Prosecutors say these three things were the cornerstones of Danny Varela’s empire, stashed throught his bedroom in the West Palm Beach home that was the alleged home base for a drug ring that eventually claimed the lives of a young family.

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WEST PALM BEACH — By the time the shooting stopped along Florida’s Turnpike in the early hours of Oct. 13, 2006, 27 gunshot wounds covered the bodies of the Escobedo family.

Treasure Coast Medical Examiner Roger Mittleman spent most of the first full day of testimony in the trial surrounding their deaths accounting for each of those wounds in detail while jurors stared at dozens of autopsy photos.

Yessica Escobedo, 25, received the most wounds, shot 11 times. Her husband, Jose Luis, 28, had five wounds to his face, abdomen, genitals and leg. Luis Julian, 4, had six wounds, including a shot to his head that likely killed him instantly.

According to Mittleton, though, the boy’s younger brother Luis Damian, 3, was not as fortunate. He had five wounds and died, though not instantly, from the bullet that tore through both of his lungs, filling his airway with blood. Mittleman described it as “a suffocating-type death, drowning in one’s own blood.”

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WEST PALM BEACH — All but 2 of 13 potential jurors were excused this morning in the federal death penalty trial surrounding the 2006 slayings of a family of four along Florida’s Turnpike.

Most of the prospective jurors this morning said they had been exposed to publicity surrounding the deaths of Jose Luis and Yessica Escobedo, who along with their young sons Luis Damien and Luis Julian were found shot multiple times along the highway in Port St. Lucie.

Family slain

Jose and Yessica Escobedo with sons Luis Julian (left) and Luis Damian (right). Husband, wife and two children from Greenacres found shot to death off Florida’s Turnpike in northern Port St. Lucie. More news, photos

Two men, Ricardo Sanchez, Jr. and Daniel Troya, are facing the death penalty for crimes related to the deaths. Anpther two, Danny Varela and Liana Lee Lopez, could receive up to life in prison if convicted on related drug charges.

Investigators say the four and Jose Luis Escobedo were a part of a drug ring that transported cocaine between Texas and Florida.

The Escobedos had move to Greenacres several months before they were killed.

U.S. District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley will continue interviewing potential jurors this afternoon. Most of the jurors excussed this morning were released for financial reasons or because of their feelings about the death penalty.

Hurley and attorneys in the case are working to narrow a pool of more than 300 potential jurors down to 80 people from which they will choose a final panel.

The trial is expected to last between two and three months.