Runnion Case May Seek Death Penalty

Associated Press ^ | Jul 21, 2002 | CHELSEA J. CARTER

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

STANTON, Calif. (AP) - The district attorney said Sunday he is reviewing whether to seek the death penalty against the man arrested in the kidnap and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion.

Alejandro Avila, 27, was scheduled to be arraigned Monday on charges of abducting, sexually assaulting and strangling the girl, the Orange County prosecutor's office said.

District Attorney Tony Rackackaus said he would meet with Samantha's family as well as Avila's attorneys before making the decision.

"After I review what they have to say with my staff and also review the evidence, then I'll decide whether or not to pursue the death penalty," Rackackaus said on NBC's "Today" show.

California law permits prosecutors to seek the death penalty against murder defendants if special circumstances exist, such as the commission of another crime.

Funeral services for Samantha were pending. Late Saturday night her mother, Erin Runnion, broke a long silence and met with well-wishers in the courtyard of the townhome complex where a massive memorial of flowers, candles, cards and toys has appeared.

"You are truly wonderful to us," she said, and warned people: "Take care of your babies. Take care of each other's babies."

Samantha was playing with a 5-year-old friend just yards from her home when a man claiming to look for a lost puppy carried her away, kicking and screaming.

The swift arrest of Avila followed a massive effort by the police, press and public that began minutes after the first 911 call, Sheriff Mike Carona told The Associated Press Sunday.

Under the department's child-abduction emergency alert plan, a Southern California alert went out 10 minutes after the report that the girl had been snatched, he said.

"We were in everybody's front room, bedroom. People were seeing the task force number and we were getting thousands of calls. And it was those calls that led us to Avila," the sheriff said.

Carona said the department adopted the alert plan in 1999. It calls for an immediate countywide law enforcement alert and the notification of media. The alert plan was first used in March 2000 following the abduction of an 11-year-old girl from Laguna Hills. She was returned safely from Mexico.

"We drill from the top down as to how to respond. We have play books," Carona said. Carona said the department plans to create a playbook for other law enforcement agencies. It also will review how it reacted in Samantha's case. We're going to figure out what our strengths were, what our weaknesses were and what we can do better." Carona said. Carona has been criticized for saying early in the investigation that Samantha's body had been left "as a calling card" and that the killer might strike again within 24 hours. "There was no shock value," Carona said in his own defense. "This is information the public has to understand. We don't want people to overreact. But we want people to understand we have a sexual predator out there."

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Watch the libs squirm as they try to defend their anti-death penalty sentiments, while most of the country wants to stone this guy to death.

[Clara Lou]

"May seek the death penalty"?! If this isn't a death penalty case, pray, what is?

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Yup, this one is screaming for the death penalty. Trouble is, with all the appeals and stalling, it could be five, ten, or fifteen years before they fry this putz. Then, all the goody twoshoes will hold their usual candlelight vision in front of the death house, while Samantha is long forgotten.

[marajade]

It will be interesting to see how O'Reilly reports this considering the fact that he's against the death penalty but come out strong against crimes like these...

[Clara Lou]

Sadly, you are so right!

[Politicalmom]

He already said the creep should get life with hard labor.
I really can't stand O'Reilly any more.

Geeze. Making people WORK is considered punishment in this country.......

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

O'Reilly has consistently come out in favor of life imprisonment at hard labor with no parole for this type of crime. I suppose I could live with having this guy make big rocks into small rocks 16 hours a day, provided he has no fancy extras like cable tv, and I get to choose his cellmates, all who will be nicknamed Bruno.

[pankot]

Disembowel him.

[Dialup Llama]

Review this pal. If you don't give that creep the needle you are going to have a real hard time going out anywhere in public.

[spokanite]

I thought of a good punishment for this guy. Allow the little girl's mother to visit him in a jail cell, with him in shackles and her with a baseball bat full of exposed nails. Give her 15 minutes to exhaust her energies on him and leave. If he survives the brutal beating then let him heal on his own with no medical intervention. Then we can all pray for infection to set in.

He doesn't deserve due process...

[Paul Atreides]

If this isn't a death penalty case, pray, what is?

The death of an abortion doctor.

[dighton]

"May seek the death penalty"?!

Trust me, they will seek the death penalty. "May" is a bit of play-acting, meant to ward off howls (also play-acting) from the defense.

[william clark]

Okay, everybody on 3...

1...

2...

3...

DUH!!

[NC_Libertarian]

Geez, Avila is the death penalty POSTER CHILD.

He ABDUCTED, MOLESTED, and MURDERED a 5 year old girl.

He POSED her body.

His DNA was found on the body.

In many ways, I think people like Avila are more evil then Bin Laden. I mean, imagine the ordeal Samantha had to go through in her last hours of life...

I pray justice is served...

[nmh]

This freak EARNED capital punishment. It's also about time we got back to a life for a life. Premeditated murder should ALWAYS get the death sentence, SWIFTLY.

[NC_Libertarian]

I agree. The liberals love saying "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." But they forget that you shouldn't go around f****** with other people's eyes in the first place.

No mercy for murderers, and that goes 100 fold for this kind.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Have Avila sit in an electric chair for the whole trial. When the jury comes back with a GUILTY verdict, have the mother of Samantha flip the switch.

[Freedom2specul8]

Oh yeah.....I like that..I like that a lot.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I call that ...." Simple solutions for a simple problem".

[Brytani]

"reviewing whether to seek the death penalty"

REVIEWING?!?!?! whether to seek the death penalty?!?! If there EVER was a case more suited for the DP it's this one - all along I've said "it's California, he'll never die for his crimes". Looks like I'm being proven right early.