Mother gets 25 years to life in murder of 4-year-old daughter

A Los Angeles County judge sentenced a 40-year-old mother to 25 years to life in state prison Friday for the second-degree murder of her 4-year-old daughter, whose body was found inside a parked vehicle more than two years ago.

The case drew attention across Southern California after Mia Gonzalez's body was found days after her death in a car in East Los Angeles in January 2024. The conviction underscores persistent concerns about child welfare oversight and the lethal consequences when family disputes escalate.

Judge Karla D. Kerlin of Los Angeles County Superior Court imposed the sentence on Maria Del Refugio Avalos at a hearing Friday. Avalos has been held in custody since her arrest on Jan. 25, 2024, the same day Mia's body was discovered inside a vehicle on the 4800 block of Civic Center Way in East Los Angeles. Authorities determined the girl had been dead for several days before she was found, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

The county medical examiner ruled the cause of death was the combined effects of strangulation and a sharp force injury to the wrist.

Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri argued in closing arguments that the killing was deliberate. "This wasn't rash or impulsive. She thought about it. She did it," Teymouri said. Prosecutors contended Avalos used her daughter as a pawn in a conflict with the girl's father.

Defense attorney Donna Gomez challenged that characterization. "She did the unthinkable without thinking. It's a decision made rashly," Gomez said. The defense argued Avalos had feared losing custody of the girl through the Department of Children and Family Services.

The jury convicted Avalos on March 19 of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death after deadlocking on a premeditation finding that would have supported a first-degree murder charge. Prosecutors subsequently withdrew the special finding, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

Friday's sentencing closed a case that began when Mia's body was found in a parked car in East Los Angeles in January 2024, more than two years before her mother faced final judgment.