The man accused of killing his wife and her two children inside their Deltona home, then hiding their bodies, will be tried almost four years after their disappearance — with the death penalty back on the table.

  • Luis Toledo is accused of killing his wife, her kids in 2013
  • Trial was on hold due to uncertainty over Florida's death-penalty law
  • Bodies of wife, her 2 children have not been found

In what was Luis Toledo’s first hearing since Florida's new death penalty guidelines became law, Judge Raul Zambrano ordered jury selection be held in St. Augustine on Oct. 2, with the trial to follow.

Noticeably absent during Friday afternoon's hearing was Yessenia Suarez’s mother, Felicia Perez.

Toledo is on trial for the deaths of Suarez and her two children, Michael and Thalia Otto.

“I apologize to my daughter and my grandchildren that I’m not there today. But I’ll promise I will not stop until justice takes place,” Perez said.

The children’s father though, did attend. Michael Otto found out that jury selection will begin the same month Suarez and his two children vanished in 2013.

Their bodies have not been found.

“It’s a good feeling to finally have a date, although it’s going to be almost four years in October. So I’m just ready for it to start,” Otto said.

Zambrano wanted to proceed sooner, but lawyers on both sides argued that the revised death penalty guidelines change the way jurors will decide if Toledo should live or die if found guilty.

Now, the jury must decide unanimously.

Both Otto and Perez hope now that the death sentence is again on the table, Toledo will change his mind and reveal the location of their loved ones.

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Otto said.

“I hope Luis tells me where my family is already. It’s enough. It’s going to be almost four years,” Perez said. Their bodies were never found, and detectives have presumed all three dead.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the new death-penalty legislation into law earlier this month.