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- 10-year-old kid dies from abuse by mother and her partner.
- Speculations have been made that homophobia is a factor that leads to the boy’s death as it was reported that he said that he liked boys weeks before.
Last June 20, the Los Angeles County Sheriff received a report from 10-year-old Anthony Avalos‘ home and was told by his mother Heather Barron that her child had fallen and suffered injuries.
The injuries mentioned included cigarette burns on his body. His mother and her boyfriend named Kareem Leiva have previously been reported for child abuse.
When Anthony was taken to the hospital, he was unresponsive and unfortunately, died a day later.
Since five years ago, the Department of Children and Family Services or DCFS and police have received 16 calls from family members and school officials regarding child abuse done by Barron and Levia.
Thirteen of those calls according to the source were about abuse done to Anthony, and not his other five siblings. One investigation also concluded that the boy has been sexually abused by a grandparent.
The DCFS director Bobby Cagle told that the reports included that Anthony and his siblings denied of food and water, sexually abused, beaten, dangled upside-down from a staircase, forced to crouch for hours, locked in a small room without bathroom, forced to fight, and forced to eat from trash.
The deputy director Brandon Nichols said that Anthony stated that he liked boys weeks before leading to his death.
DCFS said that they are still conducting further investigations if homophobia is a factor in the death of the boy.
Anthony’s aunt Maria Barron, who said that she started calling DCFS in 2015 when she noticed bruises on the kids, said that if he came out that “only reinforces how brave Anthony was,” considering the conditions in which he lived.
LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn stated that they hope to get answers in the coming days as they have “failed Anthony”.
A few days later, it has been revealed that Heather Barron and Kareem Leiva have not yet been arrested.
