Death Penalty Off the Table for Child-Abusing Murderers in L.A. County

An article by Roman Chiarello of Fox News this morning highlights the demand to restore the option to seek the death penalty for the worst murderers in Los Angeles County. On June 21, 2018, a 10-year-old boy named Anthony Avalos was pronounced dead at a hospital in Los Angeles County after suffering from a horrific brain injury. Years of abuse from Anthony’s mother and boyfriend came before the untimely death of Anthony.

According to Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami, “The decision [to seek the death penalty] was made by a committee through a rigorous process. This happened over a year ago, with discussions with the family, taking into consideration the mitigation of the defendants, taking into consideration any evidence that the defense attorneys presented.” Now with Gascón’s movement in favor of offenders, and in this case murderers, there is no ability to seek the death penalty in this case. 

In his interview with Fox News in the above article, Hatami adds, “More important, George Gascón believes somehow that if you murder and torture a child, [or] if you rape and torture a child, you can be rehabilitated.”

An article by Garrett Therolf of the Los Angeles Times explains in detail the injuries that were sustained by Anthony and the numerous opportunities that were offered to Anthony’s mother and boyfriend to get assistance and help. According to Therolf, “His body showed signs of prolonged abuse. His skin was bruised and burned from head to toe. His once-healthy frame had wasted to skin and bones.” In this article, Thereolf recounts the events from the time the abuse was first reported in 2013 through the murder of Anthony 2018. Included are statements from siblings of the abuse that Anthony suffered and sentiments the family members share.

According to an article yesterday by Mary Stringini of Fox 11, Maria Barron said the following in a social media post, “Mothers that kill their own children deserve nothing but the worst punishment there is. Heather Barron, you deserve the death penalty or to spend the rest of your life in prison. You shouldn’t get a second chance at life after you took away the life of an innocent child.” This article also contains a photo of Maria and David, Anthony’s aunt and uncle, at a protest to recall Gascón. In this case, the argument stands that rehabilitation for these people who could abuse, neglect, and murder a child should be what is off the table, not the death penalty.