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Posted on 04/28/2005 4:23:50 PM PDT by hole_n_one
Samantha Runnion Slay Suspect Convicted
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SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A jury convicted a factory worker Thursday of the 2002 kidnapping and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, an Orange County girl whose death prompted a massive public outcry.
After deliberating for less than nine hours over two days, a jury of eight men and four women convicted Alejandro Avila, 30, of kidnapping, murder and two counts of sexual assault.
The same Superior Court jury will decide in a separate penalty phase if Avila should get life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
The evidence presented in a 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 also 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. Her body was found the following day in mountains some 50 miles away, left on the ground as if it had been posed.
Avila had been acquitted of molesting two girls in 2001 in neighboring Riverside County, and authorities said they believe he killed Samantha to avoid another such trial.
Samantha's mother Erin Runnion, her eyes red from crying, sat in the front row of the courtroom with her husband Ken Donnelly when the verdict was read.
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.
More than 4,000 people attended Samantha's funeral. In the wake of her death, then Gov. Gray Davis ordered a statewide expansion of child abduction alerts posted on electronic billboards along freeways.
That should take about five minutes.
| Alejandro Avila, right, accused of kidnapping and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, stands behind bulletproof glass in a courtroom during his arraignment in this Aug. 9, 2002 file photo, in Santa Ana, Calif. Deputy District Attorney David Brent showed jurors crime scene photos of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion's nude body for the first time Tuesday, April, 26, 2005, during closing arguments in Avila's trial (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) |
Kill him
Good! Fry him!
Why did it take them so long to convict him?
Set him free (somewhere near me).
That's my idea of a suspended sentence
Works for me.
If we do it often enough maybe we'll finally get the hang of it.
Oh, boo.
Oh, good. Just ... good.
Nice attempt at gallows humor. Hanging has not been used for some time in this country and it may take us a while to learn the ropes.
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