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SANTA ANA, Calif. — A judge Friday formally sentenced to death the man who kidnapped and murdered 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in a case that led to the expansion of abduction alerts on electronic billboards along state freeways. ``You're a disgrace to the human race,'' the girl's mother, Erin Runnion, tearily told Alejandro Avila in court. ``... Everything in me wants to hurt you in every possible way.'' A jury convicted the 30-year-old former factory worker in April and voted for the death penalty in May. Judge William R. Froeberg endorsed the recommendation. Avila snatched the kicking and screaming girl as...

Samantha Runnion Slay Suspect Convicted By BEN FOXAssociated Press Writer 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...

    Whenever I think of Alejandro Avila, I think of a James Woods quote about capital punishment -- something to the effect of being able to pull the switch and sit down to dinner.   California courtrooms filled the unimaginative media last year, and the year before that, ad nauseum, come to think of it. This year will of course be no exception, with the Michael Jackson, Robert Blake, and Arlen Specter spectacles confirmed for your entertainment pleasure.   But, without hoopla, things are getting readied in Orange County for the trial of Alejandro Avila.     Samantha Runnion ...

(12-02-2002) - A California judge has denied a request for a delay by the man accused of killing five-year-old Samantha Runnion. Samantha was abducted outside of her home in July. Her body was found the next day along a highway. Authorities say she had been sexually assaulted and asphyxiated. Attorneys for 27-year-old Alejandro Avila wanted a postponement to review DNA evidence. After the judge said no, Avila waived his rights to a preliminary hearing. Avila's arraignment is now set for December 16th. The district attorney says prosecutors want the earliest possible trial date, but he expects the defense to...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With national nerves raw after a series of high-profile child kidnappings, Los Angeles County officials on Tuesday approved a plan to post the general locations of sex offenders' homes on the Internet. The Internet map would follow the design of San Diego County's "Regional Sex Offender Pin Map," which designates within about a half-block the areas where convicted sex offenders are living after being freed from prison. As in the San Diego model, Los Angeles County residents would have to go to sheriff's stations to get addresses, photos and criminal histories of offenders because state law...

(Mike Shelton cartoon added by poster) "I want to acknowledge Mike Carona of Orange County, California, who's with us to share -- where are you, Mike?" Bush said as he scanned the room, where scores of law-enforcement and political officials were gathered to bolster the commander in chief's call for a new Homeland Security Department. "I appreciate you coming," Bush said as he spotted the sheriff. "He's the fellow who recently apprehended the killer of Samantha Runnion there in California. I want to congratulate you for your good work, helping make your community as safe as possible." Complete Article

<p>Well, I've got many American lawyers angry with me, and that is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.</p> <p>Item, Alejandro Avila, the accused killer of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, was charged with molesting two 9-year-old girls two years ago, went to trial, and was acquitted.</p>

STANTON, Calif., July 22 — A 27-year-old California man was expected to be charged Monday in the kidnapping and slaying of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion. The suspect’s mother told NBC News that she had not asked her son whether he killed the child, but she said she “hopes God forgives him if he’s found guilty.” THE WOMAN, Adelina Avila, said on NBC’s “Today” show that she found it hard to believe that her son, Alejandro, who was arrested Friday but has yet to be charged, could be a kidnapper, rapist and killer. She said he was the kind of person who...

Man arrested in Samantha's killing Alejandro Avila had frequently visited the complex where the Runnion family lived. July 20, 2002 By BILL RAMS, JEFF COLLINS and ALDRIN BROWN The Orange County Register STANTON – A desperate search for the sexual predator who killed Samantha Runnion ended Friday with the arrest of a man acquitted last year of molesting a former friend of hers. Alejandro Avila, 27, was picked up near his mother's apartment in Lake Elsinore, where he lived, three days after Samantha's nude body was found in a remote area off Ortega (74) Highway. More than 400 investigators followed...

<p>Stanton, Orange County -- The manhunt that would soon snare him was well under way earlier this week when Alejandro Avila talked with his mother, Adelina, about the murder of Samantha Runnion.</p> <p>Whoever sexually assaulted and killed the little girl should hang, the mother told her son.</p>

<p>STANTON, Calif. (AP) --  A 27-year-old man acquitted of molesting two girls two years ago was arrested Friday in connection with the kidnapping and slaying of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion.</p> <p>Alejandro Avila was arrested after search warrants were served at an apartment complex not far from where the girl's body was found Tuesday, Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona said.</p>

Update from OC Sheriff... Press conference.. Playing 911 tape of the people that found the body, male caller was extremely upset, and scared, he was crying, and telling 911 the location but the cell phone transmission was breaking up and was disconnected. They called the telephone number he left before the disconnect and they called his home and got a messege machine. He called back within minutes and made contact again with 911 and was almost hysterical and crying saying it was little girl and was very distraught, When Cell caller got home he called again from home phone and...

NEWS CONFERENCE AT 10:00 AM PT. Earlier this am Sheriff was interview by Fox News. He stated at that time that they had detained several people and that he felt that one of them would be arrested.

STANTON, Calif., July 18 (UPI) -- Orange County sheriff's detectives, reportedly acting on a tip, served three search warrants in Southern California Thursday night as part of the investigation into the brazen kidnapping and murder of a local five year old. Deputies quietly moved in on a business in Temecula and two apartments in a complex in Lake Elsinore, not far from the mountain ravine where the body of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion was discovered Tuesday, Los Angeles television station KCAL said in an exclusive report. There were no arrests reported, but KCAL said that a white sedan was towed from...

Oak Park children kept inside after abduction attemptBy Deborah EnsorUNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER July 18, 2002Most days, children of all ages run around the courtyards of a sprawling Oak Park apartment complex. They dash in and out of one another's homes, play video games, goof off with their friends. But yesterday, no children were out playing. Hardly anyone was outside.All afternoon, school buses dropped off many of the 300 children who live here, but within minutes they were gone, spending a beautiful sunny day inside because their parents were afraid for their safety.Afraid because, on Tuesday, someone tried to snatch an...

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