Murder of Anthony Avalos

Anthony Avalos, a ten-year-old boy, died on June 21, 2018, in Los Angeles County. An autopsy showed his body bore signs of sustained physical abuse and malnutrition, and he had died from injuries including internal bleeding after being beaten. His mother, Heather Barron, and her boyfriend, Kareem Leiva, were charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances of torture.

According to relatives cited in coverage of the case, Avalos had told family members that he "liked boys" weeks before his death, a disclosure relayed by Brandon Nichols, deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), to the Los Angeles Times. Several relatives later said Barron and Leiva had shown repeated homophobic behavior, including Barron reportedly using a slur against Avalos and Leiva stating he was uncomfortable around gay people.

Court testimony described a pattern of sustained abuse. Avalos's aunt, Crystal Diuguid, told a therapist that Barron had beaten, starved, and locked Avalos in a room without bathroom access when he was six years old; the therapist reported this to a child abuse hotline. Caseworkers responded to 13 complaints of abuse involving Avalos between February 2013 and April 2016, including a report of sexual abuse when he was four. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami described injuries to Avalos's hips, arms, and feet, and stated that at one point Avalos could not walk, was found unconscious on his bedroom floor for hours without medical attention, and could not eat on his own. In the days before his death, Avalos was reportedly whipped, held upside down and dropped on his head, sprayed with hot sauce in his eyes, nose, and mouth, and forced to kneel on rice for hours. A 911 call was made one day before he was killed.

Anthony had been under DCFS supervision from 2013 to 2017. During that period, at least 13 calls to the child abuse hotline were made by teachers, counselors, relatives, and police regarding his welfare, and DCFS followed up eight times. A CBS News review of DCFS records, records from Maximus Inc., court records, and family interviews found that child protective workers missed multiple warnings of life-threatening abuse and repeatedly failed to intervene.

On August 28, 2019, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced it would seek the death penalty against both Barron and Leiva, who pleaded not guilty to intentional first-degree murder with the special circumstance of torture. Barron was also charged with abuse of one of her other sons. The death penalty option was later dropped by the District Attorney's Office under George Gascón. On March 7, 2023, both Barron and Leiva were found guilty. On April 25, 2023, they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.