Boy, 10, was abused for days before death

Torture included slamming him onto floor and forbidding him to use the bathroom

A10-year-old Southern California boy was starved and tortured for days before his death, sometimes by younger brothers and sisters forced to take part in the beatings, according to prosecutors who have charged his mother and her boyfriend with his murder.

KNBC-TV on Tuesday cited court documents that alleged vicious and repeated abuse of Anthony Avalos at his Lancaster home in the Mohave Desert north of Los Angeles for five or six days before his death on June 21.

The torture included slamming the boy onto the bedroom floor, whipping him with a belt and cord, pouring hot sauce into his mouth and forbidding him to use the bathroom, according to the documents.

Eight siblings witnessed and were forced to take part in some of the abuse, which according to the documents included making the other children fight Anthony and forcing the children keep watch “so Anthony would remain standing or kneeling”.

“At one point Anthony could not walk, was unconscious lying on his bedroom floor for hours, was not provided medical attention, and could not eat on his own,” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami wrote in an motion filed on Monday that asks a court to admit previous child abuse reports into evidence. Sheriff’s deputies were called to Anthony’s home a day before he died at a hospital. His mother said the boy had fallen down stairs.

Heather Maxine Barron, 28, and her boyfriend, Kareem Ernesto Leiva, 32, were charged with torture and murder. They haven’t entered pleas and remained jailed on $2 million (Dh7.34 million) bail each pending a hearing next month.

County child welfare officials had received a dozen referrals of suspected child abuse about the boy from 2013 until 2016.

Anthony had been removed from his home for several months when some of the reports of abuse were substantiated.

Eight siblings witnessed and were forced to take part in some of the abuse, which included making the other children fight Anthony and forcing the children keep watch ‘so Anthony would remain standing or kneeling’.