Sentenced: Mother Arrested For Murder After 4YO Daughter Found Dead In Southern California

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A woman was arrested Friday for allegedly killing her 4-year-old daughter in Southern California, authorities said.

Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department responded to a business parking lot late Thursday night in East Los Angeles.

The child, who has been identified as Mia Gonzalez, was found unresponsive inside a vehicle. She was transported to a local hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

Her mother, 38-year-old Maria Avalos, was also found in the vehicle, according to authorities. She was detained at the scene and later booked on suspicion of murder.


According to the Los Angeles County autopsy report released Saturday, the child's death has been ruled a homicide.

The cause of death was reported as "combined effects of strangulation and sharp force," according to the autopsy report.

Mother arrested for murder after 4-year-old daughter found dead in Southern California

A woman was arrested Friday for allegedly killing her 4-year-old daughter in Southern California, authorities said.

abc7chicago.com

 

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Mia

 

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A California mom accused of strangling her four-year-old daughter might have driven around with the girl’s body in her car for days, investigators reportedly believe.

Police found Mia Gonzalez strangled and unresponsive in a car with her mother on Thursday on Civic Center Way in East Los Angeles, and charged 38-year-old Maria Avalos with the heinous crime, according to KABC-TV.

The slain girl’s father told the station that Avalos was experiencing problems and had driven off with Mia earlier last week.

Cops told the family that the suspect may have been driving around with the child’s body for days before she was arrested for murder, according to the local affiliate.

“Mia was a really good kid,” her godmother Noemi Lopez told the station.

“She was the light of my home. She didn’t deserve this.”

“We were trying to contact her,” Lopez reportedly said of Avalos.

“She wasn’t responding for two days. She said she needed space, that she was going through a lot.”

“She should’ve asked for help,” the grieving godmother added. “She should’ve called me. Now she’s trying to call me from jail. What does she want now? She already did her part, now let me do my part.”

California mom accused of strangling 4-year-old daughter may have driven body around for days: ‘She didn’t deserve this’

Cops reportedly told the family that the suspect may have been driving around with the child’s body for days before she was arrested for murder.

nypost.com

 

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Why didn't she simply strangle herself instead of this gorgeous little girl? Her problems would have been solved instantly

 

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A mother has been found guilty of murder and assault in the death of her 4-year-old daughter, who was found unresponsive in a car in East Los Angeles.

Maria Del Refugio Avalos on Thursday was found guilty of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death.

Prosecutors say Avalos killed her daughter, 4-year-old Mia Gonzalez, back in January 2024.


Investigators say deputies found Mia in a car with her mother. The child was pronounced dead and the coroner's office determined her cause of death was "combined effects of strangulation and sharp force injury of the wrist."

Mother found guilty of murder in death of her 4-year-old daughter in East LA

A mother was found guilty of murder and assault in the death of her 4-year-old daughter, who was found unresponsive in a car in East Los Angeles.

abc7.com

 

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A California woman has been sentenced to decades behind bars for killing her 4-year-old daughter more than two years ago.

The child, Mia Gonzalez, was found unresponsive inside a car in East Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan, 25, 2024, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE, noting that the child had been killed the day before.

Her mother Maria Avalos was convicted of murder in March 2026 and sentenced this month to 25 years to life in prison, per the district attorney's office.

Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri has said that Avalos had dressed Mia in "nice clothes and then ruined them with her blood" before her body was found, ABC 7 reported.

"... This wasn't rash or impulsive. She thought about it. She did it," Teymouri told the jury during trial, further alleging Avalos had turned her daughter "into a pawn" in her dispute with the child's father, according to the outlet.

Avalos' lawyer argued that she was in distress after a fallout with Mia's father and worried that her daughter would be taken from her by child services, the outlet reported.

https://people.com/slain-4-year-old-found-in-car-clothes-ruined-with-blood-killer-learned-fate-11974022