Alejandro Avila

Case overview

Alejandro Avila was convicted of kidnapping, murder, and sexual assault in the death of five-year-old Samantha Runnion in California in July 2002. He was sentenced to death on July 22, 2005. He was imprisoned at San Quentin State Prison in California.

The offence

On July 15, 2002, in Stanton, California, five-year-old Samantha Runnion was playing a board game in the front yard of her home with her six-year-old playmate Sarah Ahn. Avila approached the girls while “cruising the area,” asking if they had seen his Chihuahua dog. Samantha, who owned a cat and cared for animals, approached the vehicle and asked, “How big is it?”

Avila snatched Samantha and threw her into the back of his vehicle, driving off. Samantha kicked and screamed, but Avila did not let her go. Samantha screamed to her friend, “tell my grandma, tell my grandma”.

Samantha’s naked body was found the next day in neighboring Riverside County. She was sexually molested and posed almost as if the killer was showing off his work.

Timeline

• July 15, 2002 — Samantha Runnion was abducted in Stanton, California, after Avila approached her and her friend Sarah Ahn asking if they had seen his Chihuahua dog.
• July 16, 2002 — Samantha Runnion’s naked body was found in neighboring Riverside County; she had been sexually molested and was posed.
• July 18, 2002 — Investigators received a tip to look into Alejandro Avila.
• July 23, 2002 — Avila was formally charged for Samantha’s death.
• April 28, 2005 — Jurors convicted Alejandro Avila in the 2002 death of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion.
• July 22, 2005 — Alejandro Avila was sentenced to death.
• 2001 — Avila had been acquitted of sexually molesting his ex-girlfriend’s nine-year-old daughter and her cousin.

Investigation

An eyewitness, Sarah Ahn, provided a portrait of the kidnapper. The drawing revealed a Hispanic male with a mustache, slicked black hair, brown eyes, and between 25–35 years old. The abductor drove a light green Honda.

Investigators later discovered that Avila lived with his mother and sister. He came home very late the night Samantha was abducted and could not account for his whereabouts.

Calls from Avila’s cell phone were made in Samantha’s neighborhood on the day of her abduction. His bank card was used to rent a motel room the same day. Samantha was kept alive for several hours after the kidnapping, and is believed to have been molested and ultimately killed in that room.

Avila’s DNA was found on Samantha’s body, and Samantha’s DNA was found in his vehicle.

During the search for Avila, Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona was best known for saying to Avila, “Don't eat. Don't sleep. Because we're coming after you.”

Arrest and pre-trial custody

Avila was held at the Orange County Jail until his conviction in 2005.

Trial

Conviction

Jurors convicted Alejandro Avila on April 28, 2005, in the 2002 death of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion. Avila, 30, was convicted of kidnapping, murder, and two counts of sexual assault. A separate penalty phase was set for whether he should get the death penalty or life in prison without parole, with opening statements scheduled for Wednesday.

Samantha’s mother, Erin Runnion, cried silently as verdicts were read. She hugged prosecutor David Brent as the jury left the courtroom. Erin Runnion thanked jurors, law enforcement authorities, prosecutors and the media during a news conference.

Erin Runnion said: “I feel a tremendous sense of relief that Samantha's fight was not in vain,” and: “He is guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty... and that feels really good because nobody should get away with this.”

As the first verdict was read, someone in the audience said, “yes, yes.”

Avila bowed his head toward the defense table but showed no emotion.

Evidence presented

The evidence presented in the five-week trial included DNA from Samantha collected from a small amount of a clear liquid, which the prosecutor said was consistent with tears or mucous, found on the inside of the door of Avila’s car.

Authorities collected a sample of DNA that matched Avila’s genetic profile from underneath Samantha’s fingernails.

There were also cell phone and bank records that placed the defendant in the area where the girl was abducted, kicking and screaming, from outside her home in Stanton on July 15, 2002.

Samantha’s body was found the following day in mountains some 50 miles away, left on the ground as if it had been posed.

A description of Samantha’s abductor provided by an 8-year-old friend led to a police composite sketch that strongly resembled Avila. Police found sneaker prints similar to those worn by Avila and tire prints like those from his car in the area where the girl’s body was found.

The prosecution also revealed an ongoing conversation between Avila and another sex offender on the file-sharing program Kazaa. The sex offender was not called for trial and is believed to have been in Europe. In the conversation, Avila and the pedophile boasted about molesting young girls. Both pedophiles agreed it was wrong to molest a child related to onself, but okay if the child was a stranger.

Avila was sometimes referred to as “Alex” or “Alexander”.

Prior acquittal and related testimony

Avila had been acquitted in 2001 of sexually molesting his ex-girlfriend’s nine-year-old daughter and her cousin in neighboring Riverside County.

Orange County Superior Court Judge William Froeberg allowed testimony in the murder trial from the girls in the 2001 case along with a third who claimed Avila abused her.

Deputy District Attorney Brent said that child pornography was found on Avila’s computer and said Avila is a pedophile who killed Samantha because he did not want to go through another trial like the one in which he was acquitted in 2001.

One of the girls he was acquitted of molesting had lived with her father at the same apartment complex as Samantha though she had moved several months before the abduction.

Defence position

Defense attorney Philip Zalewski claimed the DNA from the fingernails was not reliable because it was not properly collected or analyzed. He suggested that the sample found in the car was planted by investigators—an allegation prosecutors denied.

Zalewski noted inconsistencies in witness testimony and called the rest of the evidence a “weak, circumstantial case.”

Zalewski also said Avila couldn’t have committed the crime within the timeline established by investigators.

Sentencing

Avila was sentenced to death on July 22, 2005.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided in the available text.

Outcome

Avila remained imprisoned at San Quentin State Prison in California following his death sentence.

Aftermath

Between the time Samantha was found dead and Avila’s arrest, the murder received a lot of media coverage.

Avila’s mother, watching the coverage, told Avila she hoped the murderer was soon caught. Avila asked, “Do you think they should give him the death penalty?” Avila’s mother replied: “Yes.”

More than 4,000 people attended Samantha’s funeral.

In the wake of Samantha’s death, then Gov. Gray Davis ordered a statewide expansion of child abduction alerts posted on electronic billboards along freeways.

Runnion delivered an impassioned message to criminals who victimize children. She said: “How many children do we have to take away before we as Americans get organized?” She added: “We outnumber you so many times over there is no excuse, and we're not going to let you get away with it any more. We're going to organize our neighborhoods and we're going to talk to our children. We're not giving you an opportunity to prey on our children anymore.”

The slaying occurred amid a series of incidents involving children, including the murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam of San Diego and the abduction of 15-year-old Elizabeth Smart in Utah.