California seeks death penalty in alleged torture killing of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos
California seeks death penalty for a mother and her boyfriend in the torture and killing of her 10-year-old son, Anthony Avalos.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday it is seeking the death penalty in the case that involved the torture and death of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos in June 2018.
A grand jury indicted his mother Heather Maxine Barron, 29, and her boyfriend, Kareem Ernesto Leiva, 33, on capital murder charges in October relating to Avalos’ death and the abuse of two other children in the home, the Los Angeles Times reported. They both pleaded not guilty.
“I know the death penalty won’t bring Anthony back, but this is one of the worst kind of crimes you could commit, so it deserves the worst kind of punishment,” David Barron, the victim’s uncle, told reporters after the hearing.
CALIFORNIA BOY, 10, CAME OUT AS GAY JUST WEEKS BEFORE HIS SUSPICIOUS DEATH, OFFICIALS SAY
Sheriff's deputies responded to a home in Lancaster, which is north of Los Angeles, on June 20, 2018, after his mother called to report that he had fallen down the stairs. Deputies found him unresponsive in the home, and he died at a hospital the next day.
Prosecutors allege Barron and Leiva poured hot sauce on the boy’s face and mouth, whipped him with a looped cord and belt and hung him upside down. They also dropped him on his head repeatedly, prosceutors said.
The boy’s autopsy showed he suffered a traumatic brain injury and had bruises, abrasions and scabs all over his body.
Prosecutors said the pair withheld food and force-fed the boy, threw him into furniture and on the floor, refused to allow him to use the bathroom, and forced other children in the home to hurt him, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Los Angeles County prosecutors announced Wednesday they are seeking the death penalty for a mother and her boyfriend accused of murdering and torturing Anthony Avalos, the woman's 10-year-old son. (Facebook)
Earlier this month, Anthony’s family filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), claiming the boy died despite at least 16 reports to the agency about alleged physical and sexual abuse at the home, KTLA reported.
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Fox News’ Kathleen Joyce and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
