IT'S A CRIME NOT TO SEEK THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE TORTURE AND MURDER OF A 10-YEAR-OLD

Anthony Avalos: Tortured, Murdered By Mom, Her Boyfriend; Death Penalty Off Table Under DA Gascón

 

LAPPL News Watch

March 9, 2021

 

Anthony Avalos was 10 years old when he was allegedly tortured and murdered by his mother and her boyfriend. 

Under the new directives of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, prosecutors will no longer be allowed to seek the death penalty. 

Heather Maxine Barron, 31, and her boyfriend, Kareem Ernesto Leiva, 35, were indicted on charges of murder and torture following the Lancaster boy’s death in 2018. Both remain jailed without bond. 

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that since being incarcerated, Leiva is accused of stabbing another inmate while awaiting trial. 

Prosecutors said Anthony was the victim of severe child abuse. They allege that the victim’s mother and her boyfriend would repeatedly pour hot sauce on Anthony’s face and mouth, torture him by making him kneel on rice, whip him with a belt and cords, hold him upside down and drop him on his head over and over. Court documents also stated that the couple would withhold food and water from Anthony and his siblings, and at times they were being forced to eat from the trash. 

In August 2019, the office of former Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced that prosecutors would be seeking the death penalty against the mother and boyfriend, a decision that has been reversed under Gascón's new directives. Gascón has vowed that his office will no longer pursue the death penalty