Parents are supposed to protect their children from harm at all cost. Sadly, however, innocent children throughout the country suffer sickening abuse and torture at the hands of the same people meant to love them and keep them safe.
In late June 2018, police officers were sent to a home after a mother called to report that she needed help after her son had fallen and hit his head. However, when officers saw the little boy, they knew there was no way the woman was telling the truth. Now, the mother and her boyfriend are facing the death penalty…
The 911 Call
On June 20, 2018, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies responded to an emergency call made by a woman who lived in an apartment in the 1100 block of East Avenue K in Lancaster, a charter city in northern Los Angeles County. According to the woman, her 10-year-old son was injured and needed help.
Not An Accident
During the 911 call, the mother explained that her 10-year-old, Anthony Avalos, had fallen and hit his head. First responders rushed to the apartment to help the child. However, when they arrived and saw the 10-year-old, they knew immediately that his mother wasn’t telling them the truth.
Riddled With Injuries
Anthony did have a head wound like his mother Heather Barron told the dispatcher on the 911 call. But that wasn’t the only injury the 10-year-old had. According to responding officers, Anthony was unresponsive by the time they arrived to help him.
No Time For Questions
When deputies arrived, Anthony appeared malnourished and looked as though he had been severely beaten. His entire body was covered in marks, cuts, burns, and bruises. Because of his state, the deputies didn’t have time to ask questions. Instead, they made sure Anthony was rushed to the hospital immediately as his condition was clearly critical.
The Next Morning
They hoped that there was still enough time for doctors to save the 10-year-old, but there sadly wasn’t. Anthony died the next morning while at the local hospital. Doctors informed the police that there was no way the boy had just fallen as his mother had claimed.
A Clear Case of Abuse
“He had a severe head injuries consistent with a brain bleed, plus bruises and abrasions all about his body. All that indicates to me that that’s non-accidental,” the director of the Department of Child and Family Services, Bobby Cagle, told CBS Los Angeles.
An Investigation Begins
In the wake of Anthony’s death, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began an investigation to figure out how a 10-year-old had sustained so many severe and horrific injuries. That investigation started by looking into Barron and her boyfriend Kareem Leiva who also lived in the apartment.
5 Days of Hell
During the investigation, which left authorities horrified, they discovered that Anthony had been violently abused and cruelly tortured for at least five days before his death on June 21, 2018. According to police, that torture directly led to the innocent child’s death.
The Arrest
Because of what happened to Anthony, authorities also found reason to remove the seven other children, who are between 11 months old and 12 years old, from the home almost immediately after Anthony passed away. As the investigation continued, both Barron and Leiva were arrested for Anthony’s death.
Evidence of Torture
Authorities found evidence showing that Barron and Leiva intentionally tortured and killed Anthony. As a result, they were both charged with one count of murder and torture. According to reports, Anthony was whipped and body-slammed in the days before his death.
The Horrific Abuse
Tragically, that’s not all Anthony endured in the days before deputies found him unconscious. According to Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, Barron and Leiva poured hot sauce on Anthony’s face, gave him rug burns, dangled him upside down, and dropped him on his head.
Further Torture
According to Hatami’s motion, Barron and Leiva also hit him with a cord and a belt, threw him into furniture, starved him, and then force-fed him. Hatami also alleged that the couple also made the other children get involved and abuse Anthony.
Pushed to The Limit
On top of all of that, Hatami alleges that Barron and her boyfriend denied the 10-year-old access to the bathroom. “At one point, Anthony could not walk, was unconscious lying on his bedroom floor for hours, was not provided medical attention and could not eat on his own,” Hatami said in his motion.
The Injuries
According to the prosecution, Anthony was left with bruises, cuts, scabs, scrapes, and red marks all over his body as a result of the abuse. He also sustained a traumatic brain injury. Sadly, authorities discovered a long history of abuse within the house that proved Anthony had been suffering for years.
A Long History of Abuse
According to authorities, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services had received tips dating back to 2013 that Anthony and some of his siblings were being abused by his mother and her boyfriend. In total, the agency investigated 88 of the claims, some of which came from family members, a teacher, and a counselor; 15 of those claims were substantiated.
The Tips
In April 2014, the Department of Children and Family Services received a tip from a caller that Leiva hit Anthony and three of his siblings with various objects including a hose and locking the kids in their rooms for hours. A few months later, another tip came in from a caller explaining Barron screamed at the kids, dragged a child across the room by his arm, and was cold toward her children.
Abusing All The Children
In November of that same year, a caller claimed Barron hit the kids. The following year, the call and tips kept coming. Callers claimed Leiva and Barron made the children squat for long periods of time, threw dirty diapers at them, hung them upside down from the staircase, and withheld food for hours at a time. In one incident, one of the boys got sick from eating so much because he didn’t know when he would get another meal.
Facing The Death Penalty
According to Anthony’s aunt, Maria Barron, the kids were forced to eat garbage and forced to go to the bathroom on the floor. Social services also substantiated allegations that Anthony was also being sexually abused. As a result, Barron and Leiva were charged with more abuse charges in addition to the capital murder charge. If found guilty, they face life in jail and might even face the death penalty. “At this point, as long as she doesn’t walk free, I don’t care if it’s life or death,” Barron’s own brother, David, told the Los Angeles Times.
Demanding Justice
Anthony’s family is demanding justice for the innocent little boy and are demanding to know why Child Services allowed him and the other children to remain in the home knowing they were in danger. “DCFS had the opportunity to save [Anthony and his siblings] and they chose to look the other way. They need to change the way they do things,” Maria, David’s wife, told Tribune Media. How many more kids need to die? Enough is enough!”
An Alleged Motive
Currently, the investigation is still going and authorities are looking into allegations that Anthony was killed because he came out as gay before he died. “One of the things that we have heard is that there may have been a motivation on the part of the man in the household regarding to the sexuality of the child, and so we’re looking into that in a very deep way,” Department of Child and Family Services director Bobby Cagle told ABC Los Angeles. According to Maria Barron, news that Anthony came out despite the abuse he endured “only reinforces how brave Anthony was.”
