Prosecutors say two brothers targeted their cousin and his family after a drug package delivered to their Irondequoit home went missing.
ROCHESTER, NY — A dispute over a missing drug shipment led two brothers to kill a family of four at their Irondequoit home and set fires inside the house, a prosecutor alleged as their murder trial opened in Monroe County Court.
Julio Cesar Pimentel-Soriano and Luis Francisco Soriano are accused in the deaths of their cousin, Fraime Ubaldo, 30; his girlfriend, Marangely Moreno-Santiago, 26; and the couple’s children, Evangeline Ubaldo-Moreno, 4, and Sebastian Ubaldo-Moreno, 2. The family was found dead in the basement of its Knapp Avenue home on Aug. 31, 2024, after firefighters responded to a house fire. The brothers face charges that include first-degree murder, arson, kidnapping and burglary.
During opening statements Thursday, Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Victoria Porter laid out what prosecutors say was the motive for killings that had remained publicly unexplained for nearly two years. Porter said the brothers were working with Ubaldo and Moreno-Santiago in an operation that used the family’s home to receive packages of drugs shipped from Puerto Rico. Prosecutors allege the arrangement broke down after one of those packages disappeared.
Porter said a package was sent to the Knapp Avenue home on Aug. 15, 2024, but could not be found after its delivery. Prosecutors said Luis Soriano came to the home to help search for it and eventually came to believe Ubaldo and Moreno-Santiago had taken it. Ubaldo denied stealing the shipment, according to the prosecution’s account. About two weeks later, prosecutors said, Pimentel-Soriano flew from Puerto Rico to Rochester and joined his brother at the home.
The prosecution alleges the brothers killed all four family members and then started eight fires throughout the house in an effort to conceal what had happened. Authorities have said the family was deliberately targeted. The allegations presented in opening statements are not evidence by themselves, and prosecutors must prove the charges to the juries hearing the case.
Attorneys for the defendants have challenged the prosecution’s account and the police investigation. Joe Damelio, who represents Pimentel-Soriano, argued that investigators rushed to judgment and failed to adequately consider other possibilities. He also told the court that Moreno-Santiago had taken the drugs and given them to another person, disputing the prosecution’s claim about who controlled the missing shipment. Damelio said the drugs came from a trafficking organization rather than from his client.
Damelio also pointed to gaps in the available video evidence. Cameras were located inside and outside the home, but the killings and the fires described by prosecutors were not captured in the footage recovered for the case. Damelio sought a mistrial after Porter used the word “slaughter” during her opening statement. Judge Charles Schiano denied the request.
The trial is being conducted under an unusual arrangement in which the brothers are tried at the same time before separate juries. The system allows jurors to hear evidence common to both cases while making it possible for the court to keep defendant-specific evidence from the other panel when necessary. The proceeding involves 32 jurors, according to local reporting. Pimentel-Soriano was arrested shortly after the killings, while authorities said Luis Soriano left the country and was later arrested in the Dominican Republic before being returned to the United States.
Testimony continued Friday with police officers, residents and others who provided surveillance recordings collected during the investigation. Jurors were shown video from the neighborhood and nearby businesses covering the period around Aug. 30 and Aug. 31, 2024. Prosecutors said some footage showed what appeared to be a motorcycle that Luis Soriano used to leave the area. His attorney, Paul Guerrieri, has maintained that his client is innocent and urged jurors to focus on the quality of the evidence rather than its volume.
The defense questioned witnesses about how the recordings were collected, stored and processed, raising the possibility that other video existed or that investigators selected footage supporting their theory. A former Irondequoit police investigator testified about canvassing the neighborhood and gathering recordings from homes and businesses after the killings. The prosecution did not comment outside court after Friday’s testimony.
The case is being handled by a special prosecutor after the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office was unable to remain involved because of a conflict tied to a case previously handled by the county’s current district attorney while he was an Irondequoit town justice. Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday as prosecutors continue presenting evidence to the two juries. The trial is expected to continue for several weeks.
Author note: Last updated August 30, 2026.