Mother And Boyfriend Convicted Of Murdering And Torturing 10-Year-Old Son
Background on the unspeakably horrific torture and murder of the child—not to mention the complete failure of L.A. county officials and social workers—is here. Today, the boy’s mother and her boyfriend were both convicted on counts of first degree murder, under a theory of torture murder. They’ll likely be sentenced to life in prison. Via ABC7:
The mother of Anthony Avalos and her boyfriend 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 murder count includes the special circumstance of murder involving the infliction of torture. Over Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami’s objection, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office dropped its bid for the death penalty against the two after the election of District Attorney George Gascón, who issued a directive that “a sentence of death is never an appropriate resolution in any case.”
[ABC7]
This is perhaps the only type of case where the death penalty would be appropriate, but of course the worthless district attorney didn’t ask for that.
