PHOTO: ABC News
Jurors from across Los Angeles County will begin to learn about Anthony Avalos’s brief life and slow death on Wednesday.
He was ten years old when he died in June 2018 from a head injury, along with several others. Heather Barron, his mother, and her boyfriend, Kareem Leiva, are charged with murder, torture, and child abuse.
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services began receiving hotline calls alleging that the couple had abused the young boy and his siblings years before.
According to school employees, social workers, and family members, Barron and Leiva hit the children, forced them to beat each other, locked them in their rooms for hours, and denied them food and bathroom breaks, among other things.
According to DCFS, many of the calls were unsubstantiated.
The DCFS flaws were eventually exposed, resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement and reforms.
Barron’s brother, David, is one of those who called the hotline and is scheduled to testify. He and his wife, Maria, have supported Anthony’s cause.
Maria Barron said that Anthony gave the most incredible hugs ever and that he was always ready to profess his love to them.
David recalls taking Anthony fishing one day to celebrate a school award. He remembered that at that time, there were no fish in the lake, so they went to the store and bought fish, put it on a hook, and pretended that they caught fish by themselves.
They intend to be present every day of the five-week trial.
Maria Barron said that they were almost there. They’re just waiting for the trial to be done, and it breaks her heart to think about everything Anthony went through.
Heather Barron and Leiva could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty at first, but the District Attorney’s Office changed its mind in May 2021.
