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Anthony Avalos death: 2 half-siblings testify about alleged abuse before boy's death
The half-siblings of Anthony Avalos, who died in 2018, testified that they had been forced to undergo punishment, including kneeling on uncooked rice, wrestling each other and watching each other be disciplined in their Lancaster home.
Feb. 2, 2023
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The half-siblings of a 10-year-old boy who died in 2018 testified Wednesday that they had been forced to undergo punishment, including kneeling on uncooked rice, wrestling each other and watching each other be disciplined in their Lancaster home, and that they saw their mother's boyfriend repeatedly dropping their half-brother on the bedroom floor shortly before his death.
The testimony of Anthony Avalos' half-sister, identified in court only as Destiny O., and his half-brother, Rafael O., came during the non-jury trial of their mother, Heather Maxine Barron, and her live-in boyfriend, Kareem Ernesto Leiva.
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Destiny O., now 13 years old, testified that Anthony had been forced to undergo a series of punishments the night before her mother called 911 to report that he was not breathing, including Leiva picking him up and dropping him "probably 10 (times) or a little more.''
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Rafael, who is now 12, said he saw Anthony being dropped by Leiva about 20 times the night before his mother called 911 to report that his half-brother wasn't breathing. He said his mother "didn't try to protect Anthony.'' He acknowledged that he didn't initially tell police about what had happened because he was trying to protect his mother, but testified that he didn't want to cover it up any longer "now that I see what she did.''
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The boy said things changed after Leiva moved into their home and acknowledged that his mother was not in the room when Leiva directed the two boys to fight each other as a disciplinary measure. He said he remembered thinking that Anthony's death was Leiva's fault.
He testified that he doesn't love his mother as much as he used to, explaining that his feelings have changed since he began to "realize all the bad things she did to me.''
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When asked by Deputy District Attorney Saeed Teymouri about Barron appearing to be "hysterical'' and "stuttering'' at times during the audiotaped interviews with detectives, sheriff's Sgt. Robert Wilkinson said,
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Leiva's attorney countered that the evidence would demonstrate that there is "reasonable doubt'' involving the murder charge against his client.
Dan Chambers said the two major issues will be "a lack of intent to kill'' and the issues of "causation.''
The defense lawyer questioned the accounts of the boy's half-siblings, whose testimony he said has changed over time.
Chambers told the judge that many of the statements by the children are "inconsistent,'' saying that their initial statements "showed a lack of any actions on behalf of Mr. Leiva with respect to the treatment of Anthony'' and that "Mr. Leiva's conduct allegedly grew worse'' as the children underwent further questioning.
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Barron's attorneys reserved their right to make an opening statement when the defense begins its portion of the case.
