Anthony Avalos: Mom, boyfriend found guilty in 'monstrous' killing of 10-year-old boy

[IcyPeas]

Wikipedia excerpt:

According to court testimony, Avalos's aunt, Crystal Diuguid, divulged to her therapist that Avalos's mother was beating, starving, and locking him for hours in a room without any access to the bathroom.[4] He was six years old at the time. The therapist called a child abuse hotline to report the abuse.[4]

Caseworkers responded to 13 complaints of abuse regarding Avalos between February 2013 and April 2016, including sexual abuse when he was four years old.[1]

Department of Child and Family Services

For more than four years, from 2013 to 2017, Anthony had been under the supervision of the Los Angeles DCFS.[4] In that period of time, at least 13 known calls (by teachers, counselors, relatives, and police) were made to the child abuse hotline regarding Anthony's welfare.[4] DCFS followed up eight times.[8]

According to a review by CBS News of released documents from DCFS, records from Maximus Inc., court records, and interviews from family and relatives, child protective workers missed numerous warnings of life-threatening abuse and repeatedly failed to intervene.[4]

Mother of Anthony Avalos and her boyfriend found guilty in Lancaster boy's murder

The mother and boyfriend of Anthony Avalos have been found guilty in the murder of the 10-year-old Lancaster boy.

Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta announced his verdict Tuesday after hearing the trial of Heather Maxine Barron and Kareem Ernesto Leiva, with closing arguments wrapping up Feb. 22. Both sides had waived their right to having the case heard by a jury.

The ruling come after horrific testimony detailing extensive torture and abuse that Leiva and Barron were accused of carrying out on the boy. That included depriving him of food and water, beating him repeatedly, forcing him to kneel on rice on a concrete floor for hours at a time, spraying hot sauce in his face, and whipping him all over his body.

The defendants did not immediately react when Ohta announced the first verdict, on the count of murder, but there were audible reactions in the courtroom that led the judge to chide those present and tell them they would be removed upon further outbursts.

Barron, 33, and Leiva, 37, were charged with one count each of murder and torture involving Anthony's death on June 21, 2018, along with two counts of child abuse involving the boy's half-siblings, identified in court as Destiny and Rafael.

The prosecutor noted that the defendants "blamed Anthony" for his injuries by claiming that he had thrown himself on the ground and that he had starved himself.

Hatami told the judge that the prosecution believes the boy died of a combination of starvation and dehydration, blunt force trauma, chronic child abuse and torture and failure to seek medical treatment.

https://abc7.com/anthony-avalos-verdict-lancaster-murder/12925027/

live trial:

https://www.youtube.com/live/1ddmUSPKEnI?feature=share

[MLAA]

1. I'm all for life in prison without parole if they are convicted.

[sir pball]

4. In ADX Florence-style solitary, please

23.5 hours a day in an 11x7', bare concrete cell, with a couple books if you're well behaved. 30 minutes of "outdoor recreation" in basically an empty swimming pool with bars over the top. No visits or phone calls, barely even any contact with the guards.

They'll be begging for death after a year, may they last 50.

[MLAA]

10. I would normally want prisoners to have access to education and library.

In cases of child abuse and murder, I’m with you.

[Tetrachloride]

2. California

north of Los Angeles

[Demovictory9]

6. Yes..story was big news

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. They will not fare well in ptison.

Inmates who do terrible things to children are often marked. Children are off limits as far as they are concerned.

[ripcord]

5. Social workers should have also been charged

Despite repeated signs of abuse he kept being placed back in the home with those animals.

[Demovictory9]

7. Agreed

[blueinredohio]

9. I also agree.

I've known of cases( though not this extreme) where caseworkers don't do their job.

[IcyPeas]

12. There was a similar case that Netflix did a series on... "The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez"

The cases were very similar. It was also California 2013. Good but horrible documentary.

The social workers in that case were "charged with two different felonies: child abuse and falsifying public records. However, charges were dropped in 2020 as justices in the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that failure to uphold their duties and failure to remove Fernandez from his abusers did not constitute criminal liability for child abuse."

Social workers

The social workers associated with the Gabriel Fernandez case were Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement.[27] The other parties associated were their supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt. [27]

The social workers were accused of neglecting Fernandez and falsifying public records. [27] Calls regarding child abuse concerns began to occur between the years of 2012 and 2013.[28] The first call came in from his teacher (Jennifer Garcia).[29]

Jennifer Garcia's concern started when Fernandez first asked her concerning questions regarding being whipped.[29] Garcia reported her concerns to the child welfare hotline. [29] Stephanie Rodriguez, a social worker, was assigned to Fernandez's case. [28] Garcia continued to see signs of child abuse such as a fat lip, pieces of hair missing. Gabriel also claimed that he had been shot in the face with a BB gun.[29] Garcia continued to call the child welfare hotline and was told each time that a social worker would check in on Fernandez.[29] However, there was never a medical follow up and every time a social worker would go to Fernandez's household, she never talked directly to Fernandez and would only talk to his mother.[28]

According to legal scholar Charlotte Hinkamp, there was sufficient evidence of child abuse and it was surprising that the Department of Children and Family Services did not remove Fernandez from his home.[29]

The four social workers were charged with two different felonies: child abuse and falsifying public records. [27] However, charges were dropped in 2020 as justices in the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that failure to uphold their duties and failure to remove Fernandez from his abusers did not constitute criminal liability for child abuse. [27]

[ripcord]

16. That was in Palmdale

Right next door to Lancaster where Anthony Avalos was killed, the county official down the hill consider that area not to be important so they get less resources and are a dumping ground for L.A. County.

[SonofDonald]

8. I think about what that poor innocent little boy went through

There is no punishment good enough for the people that did that to him

My heart breaks 😥

[Captain Stern]

11. I think even Jesus might at least consider the death penalty on this one. n/t

[Calculating]

13. I'd support the death penalty here

This is just awful and they need to pay.

[LudwigPastorius]

14. No death penalty in California...

otherwise, I'd advocate slowly feeding those two into a wood chipper.

[pansypoo53219]

15. butbutbut they weren't gay, so its ok. right? RIGHT???