Prosecutors said a 10-year-old boy who died last month in Lancaster after suffering physical abuse had been tortured for five or six days and his younger siblings were forced to watch and participate in the beatings.
Anthony Avalos was repeatedly dropped on his head, slammed into furniture, whipped with a belt and a cord, had hot sauce poured in his mouth, was starved, and was not allowed to use a bathroom, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in an evidentiary motion obtained by NBC4.
"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," Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami wrote in an effort to convince the court to admit into evidence prior child abuse reports.
Avalos died June 21. His mother, Heather Maxine Barron, 28, and her boyfriend, Kareem Ernesto Leiva, 32, were arrested last week and charged with torture and murder.
Both appeared in court Monday but put off entering pleas to the charges until a hearing next month.
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If convicted as charged, Barron could face up to 22 years to life in state prison and Leiva could face a maximum of 32 years to life in prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Leiva -- who was interviewed last Wednesday at the Los Angeles County sheriff's station in Lancaster -- "made statements that led detectives to arrest him for the murder of Anthony Avalos," Sheriff Jim McDonnell told reporters.
Leiva was booked Thursday by sheriff's deputies after being treated for an apparently self-inflicted laceration to his neck, and Barron was arrested the following day by sheriff's deputies.
The two, who are accused of torturing the boy in the days leading up to his June 21 death, are each being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
The DA's evidentiary motions, filed Monday, also detailed the injuries paramedics and nurses found when Avalos was brought to Antelope Valley Hospital.
He was: "in full cardiac arrest; suffered reddened eyes; suffered an abrasion on the bridge of his nose; suffered large scabbed abrasions on both of his knees; was intubated because he could not breathe on his own; suffered a bruise on his right shoulder; suffered a bruise and cut on his left hip area; suffered bruises and abrasions on both legs; suffered bruises, abrasions, and cuts on his back; suffered bruises and abrasions on buttocks; suffered bruises and abrasions on his right arm and elbow; suffered an abrasion on his left side of his stomach, had red dots on the side of his stomach; suffered a bruise to his right hip; suffered bruises on his left ankle; suffered bruises on his right foot; suffered bruises and abrasions on his forehead, nose, mouth, in between eyes and right cheek; suffered a pink scabbing abrasion on his neck; and had a brain bleed. Anthony also suffered a traumatic brain injury."
According to the prosecutor, Avalos was named as the victim in multiple child abuse reports that date back to 2013.
