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SANTA ANA, Calif. — A judge on Friday formally sentenced to death the man who kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered 5-year-old Samantha Runnion (search) in 2002 — a case that led to the expansion of child abduction alerts on electronic billboards along California's freeways. A jury convicted former factory worker Alejandro Avila (search), 30, in April and voted for the death penalty in May. On Friday, Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg endorsed the jury's recommendation. "You shall suffer the death penalty," the judge told Avila, who looked away.

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...

Never out of sightParents, experts on children agree this is the rule of the day  By Jane CliffordUNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERJuly 20, 2002Carolyn Burke answered the question even before it was asked: "I never let her out of my sight." It's the mantra of parents this week, following the abduction and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, grabbed outside her Orange County town house Monday.It's also the mantra of child-development experts who say that no child under the age of 6 should be playing unsupervised. They simply are incapable of making all the right decisions at the right time. And when...

<p>If experience is any guide, Marc Klaas predicted Friday, the slaying of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion has all but guaranteed that California will soon adopt a proposal for a statewide alert system to quickly broadcast information about child abductions.</p> <p>Klaas has reason to know. The kidnapping and murder of his 12-year-old daughter, Polly, by a violent career criminal in 1993 drove California legislators to enact -- in just three months -- a strict ``three strikes'' sentencing law that has had a lasting impact on the state's criminal justice system.</p>

USA: UPDATE 5-Police '100 percent' sure they have Samantha killer. By Dan Whitcomb   22:09 ET Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2002. LOS ANGELES, July 19 (Reuters) - A southern California man will be charged with the abduction and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion , a police official said on Friday, adding that detectives had no doubt that the 27-year-old factory worker was the little girl's killer.Alejandro Avila, who was acquitted of molesting two other young girls in 2000, was taken into custody Friday morning in the case that has terrified parents across California and transfixed much...