California boy was extensively tortured over days before being killed, prosecutors allege
LOS ANGELES - Anthony Avalos suffered at least five days of sustained torture before the 10-year-old boy was killed last month, Los Angeles County prosecutors allege in new court papers.
The district attorney's office said that Anthony's mother, Heather Barron, and her boyfriend, Kareem Leiva, poured hot sauce on Anthony's face and mouth, whipped the boy with a looped cord and belt, held him upside-down and dropped him on his head repeatedly. Prosecutors also alleged that the couple alternately withheld food and force-fed him, slammed him into furniture and the floor, denied access to the bathroom and
