Jury sentences murderer to death

SANTA ANA, Calif. – An Orange County jury recommended Monday that Alejandro Avila be executed for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing Samantha Runnion, a 5-year-old girl who disappeared from her Stanton home in 2002. .

As the verdict was read, Samantha’s mother, Erin Runnion, sobbed quietly.

Avila gazed downward and displayed no reaction. As Assistant Public Defender Denise Gragg huddled next to him, her eyes filled with tears.

Later at a news conference, Runnion discussed the difficulty of sitting through every day of the courtroom testimony, imagining her daughter’s pain in the hours after her abduction.

“It’s hard to believe it’s over,” she said. “The fact of the matter is, one’s down, but my baby’s still gone.”

The crime attracted national attention during a wave of child abductions that year, including the kidnap and murder of 7-year-old San Diego girl Danielle van Dam.

After convicting Avila two weeks ago, jurors deliberated less than six hours before recommending death, announcing they had reached a verdict about half an hour into the second day.

Avila was convicted after a monthlong trial that centered on DNA evidence tying him to the child he snatched as she played outside her family’s condominium. His DNA was found under her fingernails, indicating she fought to get away, and DNA consistent with her tears was detected inside his car.

During five days of testimony in the penalty phase, defense attorneys tried to convince jurors to show Avila mercy because of his brutal childhood, when they say his relatives sexually assaulted and beat him.