An illegal alien MS-13 Gang member is set to stand trial next week, alongside his girlfriend, after the pair allegedly tortured and murdered the woman’s 10-year-old son, Anthony Avalos, in the sanctuary state of California.
Kareem Ernesto Leiva, a 37-year-old illegal alien MS-13 Gang member from El Salvador, and his girlfriend, 33-year-old Heather Maxine Barron, are facing child abuse and murder charges for their allegedly torturing and killing Avalos.
Heather Barron appears for a hearing in a Lancaster courtroom with boyfriend Kareem Ernesto Leiva, both charged with the torture-murder of Barron’s 10-year-old son, Anthony Avalos on August 3, 2018. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Likely thanks to California’s strict sanctuary policy, which shields illegal aliens from arrest and deportation by federal immigration officials, Leiva was allowed to remain in the United States despite previously being arrested for domestic violence in 2010 and 2013.
As Oxygen reports, Leiva and Barron allegedly tortured Avalos for two weeks leading up to his death. Even before the torture started, Avalos had allegedly been sexually abused at five years old by Barron’s former boyfriend.
Avalos faced severe torture that ultimately left him unconscious hours before his death, prosecutors say:
Barron had called 911 on June 20, 2018, to claim Avalos had fallen, KTLA reported. However, he had cuts and bruises all over his body, as well as a traumatic brain injury, authorities say. He died the next day. [Emphasis added]
Prosecutors allege that Barron and Leiva subjected Anthony to a series of torturous acts over multiple days, including beating him with a belt, dropping him on his head repeatedly, burning him with cigarettes, and pouring hot sauce all over his face and mouth. Barron and Leiva also allegedly starved the boy and performed sex acts in front of him. [Emphasis added]
Barron had seven children in total, including three fathered by Leiva. Meanwhile, Leiva had eight children in total. Though California social services were repeatedly called about potential child abuse at the hands of Leiva and Barron, nothing came of the allegations.
Last year, a $32 million settlement was awarded to Avalos’s biological father and remaining family members sued Los Angeles County officials for failing to have social services intervene to save the boy and his siblings.
Avalos’s family members are also expected to testify against Leiva and Barron.
Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey (D) planned to seek the death penalty against Leiva and Barron, but current District Attorney George Gascon (D) dropped the effort as he halted the county’s ability to seek the death penalty against accused killers.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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