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Over 13 years after girl’s murder, judge rules Barahona is incompetent to stand trial

Barahona stands accused of torturing and killing his adoptive 10-year-old daughter Nubia

MIAMI – A judge decided Jorge Barahona — whom detectives accused of killing his 10-year-old adoptive daughter Nubia — is incompetent to stand trial.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson announced the ruling on Friday after Lina Haji, a psychologist, conducted her evaluation on Feb. 28, court records show.

Correctional officers were holding Barahona, 56, at the Metrowest Detention Center without bond on Friday, over a decade after her murder.

Police officers found Nubia dead on Valentine’s Day 2011 — wrapped in plastic and soaked in chemicals in the back of Barahona’s truck in Palm Beach County. Nubia’s twin brother Victor, who was convulsing, survived.

Nubia Barahona was killed in 2011.

Prosecutors charged Barahona with first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm and torture, and seven counts of child neglect.

Barahona was first booked on March 23, 2011. Five inmates were accused of covering up security cameras and attacking him on March 1, 2021, to punish him for the crime.

Barahona’s wife, Carmen Barahona, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse charges. A judge sentenced her to serve life in prison.

Carmen Barahona accepts plea deal, agrees to testify against husband in death of adopted daughter

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle released a statement regretting that the case against Jorge Barahona was “delayed” yet again.

“The psychologists’ opinions that he cannot assist his new attorney in mounting his own legal defense is frustrating to all,” Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “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.”

Related story: Here’s why a child’s murder case still hasn’t gone to trial after more than a decade


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