Is death a fair punishment for criminals?
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s policies are not winning him any popularity contests these days. Many say he’s not tough enough on criminals and they’re right.
On May 1, California increased its early release credits for 76,000 inmates, including repeat and violent felons, as the state continues to trim the prison population. According to a KTLA 5 news report, California’s prison population was once the nation’s largest state correctional system.
It’s no stranger to violent, high-profile inmates. Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez are probably some of the most well-known inmates to have been imprisoned in California.
Ramirez died while awaiting execution, while Manson, who was originally sentenced to death, had his sentenced commuted to life with the possibility of parole, after the California Supreme Court invalidated the state’s death penalty statute in 1972. He never did get paroled and died in 2017 at the age of 83.
But there are inmates housed in the correctional system that have ties closer to the Antelope Valley. Currently, Pearl Fernandez and her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre are residing within the prison system for their crimes against Pearl Fernandez’s son, Gabriel Fernandez, which ultimately resulted in his death.
They’re not the only ones, though. Heather Barron and her boyfriend Kareem Leiva are also in custody for the alleged murder and torture of Barron’s son Anthony Avalos.
In this case, they have been indicted on murder and torture charges and the prosecution is seeking the death penalty against the two.
However, that may not come to fruition due to Gascón’s new policy.
“I do not support the use of the death penalty on moral and practical grounds,” his campaign website says. “Not once in my nine years as District Attorney of San Francisco did my office seek the death penalty. I campaigned against the death penalty when Prop 34 was introduced in 2012, and again in 2016 when Prop 62 was on the ballot. The death penalty is deeply flawed and we are better off without it.”
Some would agree with his stance on the death penalty, but others do not. Avalos’s uncle, David Barron, has gone on record and said the decision to seek death for Heather Barron and Leiva is one step closer to achieving justice for Avalos.
“I know the death penalty will not bring Anthony back, but this is one of the worst kind of crimes you could commit so it deserves the worst kind of punishment,” he told the LA Times.
The couple pleaded not guilty to capital murder charges and Leiva has been accused of other violent acts while in prison, including assaulting another prisoner.
Will life in prison be enough for the two, if the death penalty cannot be sought? Is it fair for them to live, even if it’s in a prison setting, while the rest of the family continues to try and heal from the tragic death of a 10-year-old boy? Gascón seems to think it is.
Tuesday would have been Avalos’s 13th birthday, but thanks to his mother and her boyfriend, he was deprived of seeing any birthday past his 10th.
Despite the outcome of the case, Avalos’s family wants to make sure he’s not forgotten. “Anthony’s tree” is located near the apartment he lived in at the time of his death.
It’s located on Challenger Way in Lancaster and on Saturday, his family members are inviting anyone who wants to attend, to take part in a celebration of life for Anthony. Children who fall victim to violence deserve more than a memorial. They deserve justice.