A Los Angeles mother convicted of murdering her 4-year-old daughter sobbed in court Friday as a judge handed down her punishment.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Karla Kerlin sentenced Maria Del Refugio Avalos, 40, to 25 years-to-life in prison for the strangulation killing of Avalos’s daughter, Mia Gonzalez.
Avalos, found guilty of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death March 19, wept and grasped tissues throughout the hearing while family members gave victim impact statements expressing anger and sorrow over the killing of little Mia.
Mia’s father, Jose Gonzales, cried openly in court while family members tried to console him. He said he could not understand why, if someone had to die, it could not just be Maria, and not his daughter.
Gonzales said he cannot sleep and cannot hold a job, and the killing of his daughter destroyed his life.
Mia’s godmother also gave a victim impact statement, and she wanted Avalos to suffer in prison for the rest of her life for killing the little girl.
Avalos spoke tearfully and said she was sorry but gave no explanation for why she killed the child.
The sentence issued by Kerlin was the maximum punishment permitted under law. Avalos was ordered held in custody ahead of her transfer to state prison.
Police found Mia strangled and unresponsive in a car with her mother on Jan. 25, 2024 on Civic Center Way in East Los Angeles.
The slain girl’s father told KABC-TV at the time that Avalos was experiencing problems and had driven off with Mia earlier in the week.
Cops told the family that the suspect may have been driving around with the child’s body for days before she was arrested for murder, according to the local affiliate.
“Mia was a really good kid,” family friend Noemi Lopez told the station. “She was the light of my home. She didn’t deserve this.”
“We were trying to contact her,” Lopez reportedly said of Avalos. “She wasn’t responding for two days. She said she needed space, that she was going through a lot.”
The girl died from the combined effects of strangulation and sharp force injury of the wrist, according to records from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.
Avalos was arrested and has been held in custody since.