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Lancaster couple get life for killing son, 10, as system failed to protect him

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Heather Barron, and Kareem Leiva sentenced to life murder of Anthony Avalos, Lancaster, California boy
Pictured, Lancaster, California boy, Anthony Avalos and the couple accused of abusing him and torturing him to death, Heather Barron, and Kareem Leiva who were sentenced to life, without a chance of parole.
Heather Barron, and Kareem Leiva sentenced to life murder of Anthony Avalos, Lancaster, California boy
Pictured, Lancaster, California boy, Anthony Avalos and the couple accused of abusing him and torturing him to death, Heather Barron, and Kareem Leiva who were sentenced to life, without a chance of parole.

Heather Barron and Kareem Leiva, Lancaster, California couple sentenced to life, without chance of parole for ongoing abuse and torture and murder of 10 year old boy, Anthony Avalos. Child had been subjected to ongoing abuse, with the system failing him. Child’s death came shortly after claiming he was gay. 

‘They hurt him for pleasure…’ A Lancaster, California woman and her boyfriend previously convicted of torturing and murdering their 10 year old son, Anthony Avalos, will spend the rest of their lives in jail.

Heather Maxine Barron, 33, and Kareem Ernesto Leiva, 37, were sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Anthony’s June 21, 2018, death.

The boy’s death follows the child some time earlier ‘coming out as gay’ and family services having received up to 13 instances of abuse in the year before. The boy’s death also raised the question as to whether Anthony’s death could have been averted had authorities reacted earlier to allegations of ongoing rampant child abuse.

A previous lawsuit by the boy’s relatives led to a $32 million settlement in October following the failure of the Department of Child Family Services and multiple social workers to properly respond to reports of abuse of Anthony and his siblings.

Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta found the two guilty March 7 of first-degree murder and torture in a non-jury trial after the two waived their right to have the case heard by a jury in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. Neither Barron nor Leiva spoke during the hearing FOX11 reported.

‘They would pick him up and slam him on the ground, slam his head onto the ground’

‘This is a really, really horrific case. The mother and the boyfriend abused Anthony for a long period of time. You’re talking about four years of abuse and about two weeks of real intensive torture right after Anthony graduated the fourth grade. They refused to give him any food or water for two weeks,’ said Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami.

Continuing, ‘They made him urinate and defecate in his room and they would shove his face into the urine and defecation. They burned him with cigarettes. They would pick him up and slam him on the ground, slam his head onto the ground. And then left him for almost two days — laying on the ground dead.’

The judge said in his March 7 verdict stated the couple ‘worked together to deprive Anthony access to liquids for a substantial length of time causing severe dehydration,’ and that the ‘condition of Anthony’s body, which shows multiple bruises, cuts, possible burn marks all over his body show the extreme torture caused by the combined treatment of Anthony by both defendants manifesting an intent to kill by each defendant.’

The sentencing was handed down after more than two hours of emotional statements from the boy’s relatives and friends, many of whom referred to the defendants as ‘monsters.’

Ohta rejected the defendants’ claims that Anthony had been injured after throwing himself to the ground and said that their statements were intended to ‘deceive authorities’ about what had actually happened to the boy.

‘Defendant Barron waited to call 911 until Anthony was literally deceased on the afternoon of June 20, 2018. This flagrant lack of care for Anthony’s life all points to intent to kill by both defendant Barron and defendant Leiva,’ the judge said, adding that subsequent statements by Barron and Leiva were part of a coordinated effort to cover up their liability for the boy’s death.

The judge also found true the special circumstance allegation of murder involving the infliction of torture of Anthony.

Both mother and boyfriend worked together as team to abuse boy

The two were also convicted of two counts of child abuse involving the boy’s half-siblings, identified in court as ‘Destiny O.’ and ‘Rafael O.’ 

The judge said testimony during the trial from the two half-siblings and one of Leiva’s daughters — who said they witnessed Leiva repeatedly dropping Anthony on the bedroom floor — showed that Barron and Leiva ‘worked together to abuse Anthony.’

He said the boy died from severe dehydration and blunt force trauma to the head, saying then that ‘the evidence supports the conclusion both defendants hurt Anthony for pleasure’ and that the 10-year-old boy was ‘helpless to protect himself against the wrath of defendants Barron and Leiva.’

One of Leiva’s attorneys, Daniel Nardoni, said after the verdict that the defense team had hoped for a conviction on the lesser charge of second- degree murder and that he was ‘somewhat disappointed that the special circumstance was found to be true.’ He said he expects the defense to file a notice of appeal on Leiva’s behalf.

In a sentencing memorandum, Deputy District Attorneys Jonathan Hatami and Saeed Teymouri wrote that Barron and Leiva ‘assaulted and abused a totally vulnerable victim’ who depended on them for nearly everything and that they ‘took the life of an innocent child’ and deserve to be in prison for the rest of their lives.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office had dropped its bid for the death penalty against the two after the election of District Attorney George Gascón, who issued a directive that ‘a sentence of death is never an appropriate resolution in any case.’

Heather Barron, and Kareem Leiva sentenced to life murder of Anthony Avalos, Lancaster, California boy
Heather Barron, and Kareem Leiva sentenced to life in the murder and ongoing abuse of Anthony Avalos, 10 year old Lancaster, California boy.

Department of Child Family Services failure to act and avert the death of a 10 year old boy

‘It wasn’t just Leiva doing the abuse,’ Hatami said. ‘Heather Barron participated in the torture … Heather Barron participated in the abuse.’

Hatami told the judge that the prosecution believes that Barron had seven children within eight years because she ‘wanted them for the money’ she received in government benefits.

Heather Barron’s sister, Maria Barron previously told of calling the DCFS in 2015 when she noticed bruises appearing on Anthony and his seven siblings. 

‘We loved him very much. But because the system chose to look the other way, he was put in the hands of the devil,’ the sister said. 

One of Barron’s attorneys, Nancy Sperber, contended that her client is a victim of battered woman syndrome, and said Leiva had taken ‘full and complete responsibility for every act of violence’ against Anthony.

‘I would submit to the court that Ms. Barron … she didn’t have the power to prevent this. She didn’t have the power to say no,’ Sperber told the judge.

She said her client was a victim of a ‘cycle of abuse’ that began with repeated alleged abuse of Barron as a child by her stepfather.

Leiva was in charge of discipline in the house and forced the children to fight each other when they were left in his care when Barron wasn’t home, according to Sperber.

In October, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors formally approved a $32 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by the boy’s relatives — two of whom testified last week that they notified the county’s Department of Children and Family Services about the alleged abuse. The lawsuit contended that multiple social workers failed to properly respond to reports of abuse of Anthony and his siblings.

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