Nubia Barahona

Fraternal twins Nubia and Victor Docter were born on May 26, 2000, in Spokane, Washington, to Sandra K. Docter, a mother with drug and alcohol abuse issues.

Their mother had borne four children before them, all of whom had been taken from her by the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Nubia was born with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

It was recommended she be placed in a medical foster home, but she was instead allowed to stay with her biological mother, who claimed to be sober.

The twins were removed from their mother's care in 2003 and placed with their father, Victor Bustillo, but they did not stay with him long.

In 2004 he was charged with sexual battery of a child not in his care.

The twins were placed in foster care, and eventually ended up in the home of Jorge and Carmen Barahona in Miami, Florida.

The couple had already adopted a boy with autism.

Jorge owned a pest control business; Carmen was a homemaker.

Just months after being placed with the Barahonas, a nurse noted that Nubia was missing medical appointments because the Barahonas did not wish to accompany her to these, despite the appointments being required to manage Nubia's ongoing condition.

The nurse recommended that the Barahonas not be allowed to adopt the children.

In 2005, Nubia reportedly told someone at her school that her father was molesting her.

Unclear on whether she had meant her birth father or her foster father, DCF investigated.

They determined that she had meant her birth father and the case was closed.

Then, in 2006, school staff called DCF to report a large bruise on Nubia's face that they suspected was child abuse.

The Barahonas were ordered to bring her to an appointment with the Department of Health's Child Protection Team in Miami, but did not show up until a week later.

By then, most of the bruising had disappeared and state doctors agreed with the Barahonas' assertion that the bruise was from a fall.

Further complaints were filed in 2007: school authorities reported that Nubia was extremely thin, always hungry, and had an unpleasant odor.

DCF investigated the claims, but were met with insistence from the Barahonas that Nubia's condition was not from hygiene problems or neglect, but caused by her medical condition.

The investigation was dropped.

The Barahonas began the adoption process of the twins in 2008, but were met with resistance from the twins' guardian ad litem, Paul Neumann.

They claimed Neumann was operating "behind [their] backs", unfairly interfering with their adoption attempt.

They claimed they had a "personality conflict" with Neumann and cited that as the reason he was accusing them of neglect.

To override him, the Barahonas wrote letters appealing to people as high up as then-governor Charlie Crist.

In these letters, the Barahonas described the care that they were providing to the twins positively, stating that they were "raising [their] children with love, as any mother and father would do."

Neumann was removed as the twins' guardian ad litem without explanation shortly before the adoption was finalized.

The twins were formally adopted in May 2009.

In 2010, complaints similar to the ones in 2007 were again raised by school authorities, this time adding that Nubia was losing her hair.

DCF was met with the same reasoning from the Barahonas—that it was caused by her endocrine condition and medication she was taking for it—and the investigation was dropped again.

Nubia Docter Barahona was a 10-year-old American girl who was abused and murdered on February 11, 2011.

Her body was found February 14, 2011, wrapped in a plastic garbage bag in the bed of her adoptive father's pickup truck on the side of I-95 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Her body had partially decomposed from being covered in chemicals, possibly pesticides.

Her twin brother, Victor Docter Barahona, was in the cab of the truck with his father, suffering seizures from chemical burns and inhalation of toxic gas.

Her adoptive parents Jorge and Carmen Barahona were indicted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect on March 23, 2011.

They face the death penalty if convicted, and are currently being held while awaiting trial.

The case has sparked outrage from Florida citizens and officials regarding the Florida Department of Children and Families' handling of previous allegations of abuse by the Barahonas.

At 5:00 a.m. on Monday, February 14, 2011, a Road Ranger noticed a red Toyota pickup truck on the shoulder of northbound I-95 between Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and 45th Street in West Palm Beach.

When the truck was still there two and a half hours later, he called the police.

West Palm Beach Fire Rescue responded to the call and found 53-year-old Jorge Barahona on the ground and 10-year-old Victor Barahona in the cab of the truck.

Both were conscious by the time rescuers arrived, but Victor was convulsing with seizures.