DELAND — Brandon Dominic Graham testified this week during the resentencing of two men convicted in the Deltona mass killing known as the Xbox murders.
The former Army veteran is now a criminal investigator with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia.
But back in 2004, when the vicious massacre took place, Graham was “basically homeless” — a 17-year-old “couch-surfing” through life in Deltona. And there was something else. Back then, Graham was “best friends” with two of the four men who beat to death six people in the house on Telford Lane in the Deltona Xbox murders.
Graham testified that Troy Victorino, whom authorities have said was the ringleader, asked Graham to join in the attack.
Graham did not join them. And he was not charged.
On Monday, April 28, Graham, 38, took the stand during the resentencing hearing for Victorino and Jerone Hunter. Victorino and Hunter were already sentenced to death in 2006, but the sentences were later struck down. Prosecutors are trying to convince a jury this week to recommend the men be sentenced to death again.
The two other men in the mass murder, Michael Salas and Robert Cannon, are serving mandatory sentences of life in prison.
Victorino, Hunter, Salas and Cannon used metal baseball bats to beat the six people to death.
Killed in the massacre were Erin Belanger, 22; Michelle Nathan, 19; Roberto “Tito” Gonzalez, 28; Jonathan Gleason, 17; Francisco “Flaco” Ayo-Roman, 30; and Anthony Vega, 34. A dog was also killed.
Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols is presiding over the resentencing hearing at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand.
Witness was ‘best friends’ with 2 Xbox killers before murders
Graham testified that in 2004 he was “best friends” with Salas and Cannon.
“We all called each other brothers,” Graham said.
Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak, who is prosecuting the case along with Assistant State Attorney Heatha Trigones, questioned Graham.
Graham, who attended Deltona High School, said he departed Volusia County in 2012 when he left for the Army. He said he was now a criminal investigator with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in Augusta, Georgia, where he is a sworn law enforcement officer.
Graham said he had known Salas and Cannon for several years, but he testified he had not met Victorino or Hunter until a week before the murders.
He said he met them in Cannon’s white Ford Expedition SUV about Aug. 1, 2004, as they drove to the Telford Lane home days before the murder.
He testified that Victorino said a couple of the residents at Telford Lane had stolen his property from another house and he was “adamant” about getting it back.
Victorino told Cannon to park behind some bushes to conceal him from the house. Victorino remained in the SUV while the others went to the house. Three women were also with them.
The prosecution shows photos of the victims during resentencing trial for Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols at the Volusia County Courthouse on DeLand, Monday, April 28, 2025.
Graham said he was armed with a baseball bat, as were Hunter and Cannon, and the women had knives. Some of the bats were wrapped with black electrical tape.
Graham said they remained outside of the house, trying to antagonize the residents to come outside.
He said Hunter, who was holding a bat, was trying to get someone to come out and fight him.
He said he didn’t recognize anybody in the house, but remembered the name “Flaco.”
Graham said they were there for about 15 to 20 minutes. The three women who were with them went inside and returned with Victorino’s CD case. The women then slashed some tires on the cars parked at Telford, Graham said.
As they were drove away, they saw a deputy drive past them.
Xbox killer modeled attack after scene in ‘Wonderland’
Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter at their resentencing trial before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols at the Volusia County Courthouse on DeLand, Monday, April 28, 2025.
Graham testified that he was at a house on Fort Smith Boulevard with Victorino, Hunter and Salas on Aug. 5, 2004, when Victorino brought up a movie titled “Wonderland,” in which one group uses pipes to beat another group to death.
Graham testified that Victorino said he wanted to do that at Telford Lane.
Graham said that Salas said “He was down,” meaning he would participate. He said Cannon said he was “down,” too, and ready to kill.
Victorino told Hunter that he knew he was in agreement because some of his things were taken also. Hunter “shook” his head to awknowledge he was “down,” Graham said.
Graham said Victorino asked him next.
“I turned my back when he asked and then he asked me again and I kind of hesitated and then I said ‘yes,’ Graham said.
Victorino said he thought Graham was not “down” because he turned his head, Graham said.
Victorino then talked to them about how to move through the house during the attack.
When Hunter asked about using masks, Victorino said no, Graham said.
Graham said Victorino stated: “We weren’t going to need any masks. We were going to leave no witnesses.”
Victorino said they would need a change of clothes because they were going to get bloody, Graham testified.
He said Victorino really wanted to harm the females in the house and Flaco.
Graham said that later, when Victorino and Hunter were not present, Cannon and Salas asked him if he really wanted to participate. He said he told them “I really don’t know.”
He said Salas called him a name.
Troy Victorino listens to one of his attorneys during his resentencing trial before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand, Monday, April 28, 2025.
Graham said Victorino and the group then dropped him off at a home in Deltona, where Graham’s friend lived. He said Victorino told him he would return between 7 and 9:30 p.m. to pick him up. Graham said he ended up going to another friend’s house in DeLand.
Graham said he had a cellphone and he missed about 10 calls from Cannon later that day.
He asked his friend in Deltona to tell them that he was going to a hospital in DeLand to visit his sick brother but that was not true.
Graham said he never met back up with them that night and stayed with his friend. The next morning his friend’s mother called and told them about the people murdered in Deltona.
“After getting over the initial shock it struck me that they did it,” Graham testified.
He said he and his friend drove to Telford Lane and they found the street blocked by deputies and news crews.
He said he did not call law enforcement because he was scared.
Graham said that day he went to Salas’ grandmother’s house to get some of his belongings.
The four men where there.
Cannon’s SUV was full of items that previously were not there, like clothes, he said.
He said Victorino was playing on a Game Boy.
Graham said shortly after the four were arrested he went to police. He said he also spoke to his friend’s mom who said explained it “was definitely the right thing to do.”
Graham was cross-examined by Garry Wood, who represents Hunter.
Wood asked Graham if he had any plans to use the bat when he accompanied the men to Telford Lane
“No, sir,” Graham said, adding that the bat was a “scare tactic.”
Wood asked him whether he understood that by saying “yes” to Victorino he was saying he was going to kill somebody.
Troy Victorino confers with his lawyer during his resentencing before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand, Monday, April 28, 2025.
Graham said sometimes you have to tell people the answer they want to hear.
Wood asked him then whether he agreed to break into the house but not kill anyone.
“I originally said yes in fear of my life,” Graham said before adding. “I used to be a coward back then.”
Wood asked him if he understood they were going to go into the Telford Lane house with weapons.
“I knew that I wasn’t going to do it from the moment they brought it up,” Graham said.
Victorino’s lawyer, Beth Sammons, then asked Graham about the Aug. 1, 2004, incident at the Telford Lane house when Victorino remained in the SUV. Sammons asked if Victorino got out of the vehicle or threatened anyone. Graham said no.
She asked him whether he remembered whether Victorino was “towering over anybody and yelling that they must participate.”
Graham said no.
And he also said in response to questions from Sammons that Victorino did not threaten any of them and did not have a weapon in his hand at the time.
She asked if he thought they were actually going to do this. Graham said he didn’t really know but also said, “By the demeanor and by the air escaping from the room I knew it was going to happen.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: 2 Deltona Xbox killers’ former friend, now a deputy, testifies