Samantha Runnion

[InspectorExstead]

Sheriff '100 Percent Certain' That Avila Is Samantha Runnion's Killer
STANTON, Calif., 7:00 p.m. PDT July 19, 2002 - "I am 100 percent certain that Mr. Avila is the man that kidnapped and murdered Samantha Runnion," said Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona at a news conference Friday evening.



Authorities arrested 27-year-old Alejandro Avila, who was acquitted of molesting girls two years ago, Friday morning as part of their investigation into the kidnapping and slaying of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion.
Carona said Avila was arrested after search warrants were served overnight at an apartment complex not far from where the girl's body was found Tuesday.
Carona said the arrest "in no way concludes this investigation."
Avila was described by Carona as a 6-foot-tall male with brown hair and brown eyes who weighs approximately 200 pounds.
The announcement of the arrest was made after Riverside County Sheriff-elect Bob Doyle played a tape of the 911 call from a man who found the body.
"I'm so scared. It was a little kid," the caller said.
"We have confirmed that Alejandro Avila is our suspect in this case," Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona told a press conference eight hours after announcing the arrest.
"When this investigation started, Samantha became our little girl," the sheriff said, becoming emotional.
At Friday evening's news conference, Carona thanked the public and the numerous law enforcement agencies that helped to quickly capture a suspect.
Avila was placed under arrest at midmorning after being detained Thursday at his mother's Lake Elsinore apartment in neighboring Riverside County.
Adelina Avila said her Lake Elsinore apartment was searched by authorities late Thursday and that her 27-year-old son was being detained. She said her son was taken in early Thursday for questioning and she was able to speak with him over the phone.
"I don't think my son did anything, but I notice he is cooperating," said Avila. "I don't have anything against that. He hasn't been through this before so he doesn't know what's going on. He doesn't have no record."
Adelina Avila told NBC4 that authorities removed bedding and two pairs of shoes from her apartment Thursday. Authorities also seized Alejandro Avila's car and his mother's white rental car.
NBC4 reporter Patrick Healy spoke with Avila over the phone early Friday morning. Avila said that he has not done anything in wrong and that his friends can vouch for his character.
Avila also said that investigators implied they had fiber evidence linking him to the crime, but he insists he did nothing wrong.
Alejandro Avila was charged two years ago with molesting two girls under the age of 14, but was acquitted by a jury, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Paul Dickerson said. He said he did not have details of the case.
NBC4's Mary Parks spoke to the apartment manager of the complex where Avila is believed to have lived with his mother and sister. The manager said she noticed a man "lurking" around vehicles in the parking lot Tuesday night. After recognizing Avila, the apartment manager realized that Avila was acting suspiciously around his own car.
Avila's neighbors were stunned, and a man who knew Avila told reporters that Avila visited Samantha's Stanton neighborhood two years ago.
One of Avila's neighbors told NBC4 that Avila changed the tires on his car earlier this week.
The sheriff credited the speedy arrest to solid forensic and scientific investigation as well as tips from the public and the news media's work in spreading news of the abduction and the suspect's description.
"This case is ready to be handed over to the district attorney's office," Carona said.
Samantha's mother, Erin Runnion, 27, who had tearfully pleaded for her return before the body was found, remained in seclusion. Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo said she was grieving and "arresting the right guy or anybody doesn't change that reality."
Samantha was snatched Monday evening down the block from her Stanton home and her nude body was found Tuesday afternoon in Riverside County near Highway 74, about 10 miles from Lake Elsinore and 50 miles from Stanton. She was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated.
A 5-year-old playmate witnessed the kidnapping and investigators launched an intense manhunt using her description of the man and a light green car he drove.
Avila was arrested after search warrants were served overnight at the Lake Elsinore apartment and at his workplace in Temecula.
Co-workers described Avila as "moody."
"He was kind of weird... he said no one respected him, and that someday they would respect him the right way," a co-worker who wished to remain anonymous told NBC4.
Avila, in an interview before his arrest, denied involvement and told detectives he was at a mall in Ontario Monday evening. Avila said detectives told him they found fibers on the body that are considered key evidence.
Avila was charged two years ago with molesting two girls under the age of 14, but was acquitted by a Riverside County jury, said Deputy District Attorney Paul Dickerson.
"I felt the guy was guilty, and did everything I could to try and get him convicted," Dickerson said. He did not have details of that case.
Avila came to Samantha's neighborhood on several occasions in 1998-99 to visit the daughter of his then-girlfriend, said Lewis Davis, the woman's foster brother.
The daughter, who Davis said is now 11 or 12, was living with her father in the same townhome complex as the Runnion family, said Davis, 39, of Lake Elsinore.
The father, who has since moved away, said in an telephone interview that he knew Avila through his ex-wife, but declined to comment further.
Davis said Avila and his sister dated for about a year, until sometime in 1999.
The arrest was announced after Riverside County Sheriff-elect Bob Doyle released an anguished 911 tape of a man reporting finding the body. Authorities have said hang gliders spotted it near a launch site, but have not identified them.
The caller, who identified himself as "Justin," said in at least two calls that he was scared and was going to his nearby home in a gated community and would call back.
"I am so scared, it was a little kid. I'm sorry, but I have a 3-year-old son," he said.
"It was a baby, I think it might have been the little girl who has been on the news," he said. The tape was edited by investigators to protect personal information.
Avila had worked since September 2001 as an assembler at the Temecula plant of Guidant Corp., an Indianapolis-based company that makes cardiac and vascular products such as pacemakers and coronary stents. The company was cooperating with investigators but was asked not to comment, spokesman Steven Tragash said.
Avila's mother, Adelina Avila, said her apartment was searched by authorities late Thursday and her 27-year-old son was being detained.
"I don't think my son did anything, but I notice he is cooperating," said Avila. "I don't have anything against that. He hasn't been through this before so he doesn't know what's going on. He doesn't have no record."
The resident manager at Lakeview Apartments, a 157-apartment, low-income housing complex, said she saw Avila inspecting a light green car Tuesday.
"He was walking around it and looking at it. I was very suspicious. I thought maybe he was trying to steal it," said Emeline Ricalde.
She said she called the complex's maintenance worker to check it out and later learned it was Avila's car. Avila's family has lived in the complex for a year but Avila is not on the lease, Ricalde said.
She said Avila has a "very close" resemblance to a sketch investigators based on the account of a playmate who witnessed the abduction.
Brianna Barber, 26, stood on her patio watching her 2-year-old child play just a short distance from the Avilas' apartment.
"It boggles my mind. I really can't believe he lived right here," Barber said.
In Sunderland, Mass., Samantha's biological father, Derek Jackson, mourned her Thursday at a news conference from his home.
"I will always stay connected with her. She will live in my heart when I wake up every day," Jackson said. "I love her dearly. I miss you, Samantha."
Jackson also offered advice to other parents.
"Please watch your children. Every second, don't let them out of your sight, especially now," he said.
A memorial of flowers, stuffed animals, candles and messages has grown outside Samantha's home.



This is so horrible. I wish it didn't end with her murder. What do you think of this? I think it's so sad that someone would do something like this. I've been watching this on the news for the past couple of days. I hope this is the man that killed her and that they bring him to justice. He deserves whatever they give him. This wasn't a very planned out and "neat" murder because the police kept saying there was a great deal of evidence by where her body was found. maybe he wanted them to find him or something. She was just a child.

[Kristina]

I wanted to post something on this, here are my thoughts. That girl was so adorable and did not deserve to die, that is totally sick! When I saw this on the news I was sickened, I read most of that but I'm not sure if he raped and then killed her? What pleasure is some old dirty bastard going to get off forcing sex on a 5 year old little girl? He deserves the death penalty, I wouldn't mind killing that sicko!

[DarleneIllyria]

Originally posted by tootiefan4life
I wanted to post something on this, here are my thoughts. That girl was so adorable and did not deserve to die, that is totally sick! When I saw this on the news I was sickened, I read most of that but I'm not sure if he raped and then killed her? What pleasure is some old dirty bastard going to get off forcing sex on a 5 year old little girl? He deserves the death penalty, I wouldn't mind killing that sicko!

This is truly a sad case. I know the girl fought the attacker, but a 5 year old had no way in hell to get away. If the cops did get the guy, I say bravo to the police. If they got the right guy, they need to give him the death penalty. I have no sympathy for child molestors.

[ks]

Originally posted by Jenny


This is truly a sad case. I know the girl fought the attacker, but a 5 year old had no way in hell to get away. If the cops did get the guy, I say bravo to the police. If they got the right guy, they need to give him the death penalty. I have no sympathy for child molestors.

Amen to that. If they undoubtedly have the right guy I hope they waste no time in giving him what he deserves-the same fate Samantha got.
It is mind-boggling to me how someone can take such an innocent child's life.





ks

[DarleneIllyria]

Originally posted by ks



Amen to that. If they undoubtedly have the right guy I hope they waste no time in giving him what he deserves-the same fate Samantha got.
It is mind-boggling to me how someone can take such an innocent child's life.





ks

The only thing that worries me about this case is if they did catch the right guy and he claims that he was on medication and forgot to take it the day of Samantha's death. It just seems like a cop out to me to claim that you take medicine and just forgot to take it that day that the crime happened on.

I know that Samantha's family will never be the same again without Sam. When you lose a child, that has to be one of the most painful things you ever have to go through. My sympathy goes out to Sam's family, and I'm praying that they get the criminal and make him pay for what he did.

[LucyFan]

I agree with all of you guys. It is very sad and horrifying. And if I was in her shoes I would be scared too. But in a way (as I see it) God was wanting her back and protecting her from what was to come in her future. Maybe God say far in future that she was going to put up with a much difficult situation than this and that it by having her get killed would take away the suffering that was going come in her future. I don't know if that is true or not, but God works in mysterious ways. You never know. Just my thoughts.

[letsgoreyes]

This has really freaked me out because I have a 4 year old sister.

[Montana Ponine]

I agree with you all, it's really sad. Poor little Samantha... and it happens all over to young children!! Why would people want to do things like this??

[Kay Scarpetta]

Originally posted by thegamebsc
This has really freaked me out because I have a 4 year old sister.

Yes. I've got a little sister also. It freaks me out because Springfield was the 36th most dangerous city out of like, 350 in the U.S.....it's scary here. You've got all these weird people walking around staring at you all day...

I used to be very mad at my mother for being so paranoid, but now I understand why.

[Penny Lane]

Originally posted by Lisa Whelchel Forever


Yes. I've got a little sister also. It freaks me out because Springfield was the 36th most dangerous city out of like, 350 in the U.S.....it's scary here. You've got all these weird people walking around staring at you all day...

I used to be very mad at my mother for being so paranoid, but now I understand why.

Yes we parents get very paranoid . Something like this makes us even more so! Please keep an eye on those kids! It only takes a moment for them to get out of your sight.

One thing is for sure , with DNA tests a crime such as this can be solved with very little or no doubt. Anybody who does things like this should have the same thing done to them! Sleazebags!

[Montana Ponine]

I feel really bad for the Avila guy if he really is innocent, though. Just imagine how rotten it would feel if you were accused for something you didn't do... Everyone would look down on you and suspect you...It would be a hard thing to go through. On the other hand, if he did do it...tsk tsk... no sympathy whatsoever. But who knows.....

[Swimfan85]

Originally posted by tootiefan4life
I wanted to post something on this, here are my thoughts. That girl was so adorable and did not deserve to die, that is totally sick! When I saw this on the news I was sickened, I read most of that but I'm not sure if he raped and then killed her? What pleasure is some old dirty bastard going to get off forcing sex on a 5 year old little girl? He deserves the death penalty, I wouldn't mind killing that sicko!

I agree with exactly what you are saying, I heard about this on the news last night and it completely disgusted me, I was discussing this with my dad and it sickens me sometimes when you think about how cruel and sick people are in the world

[JDS84]

I heard about this on tv last night. It makes me so sad that a innocent 5 year old girl lost her life. Why does people kill? I will never understand that. It is a very sick world we live in.

[InspectorExstead]

Originally posted by Lisa Whelchel Forever
I used to be very mad at my mother for being so paranoid, but now I understand why.

same here. ever since samantha's kidnapping i've been worse than my mom, watching them every second. i even gave em lectures about strangers.

Avila isn't innocent. An orange county officer announced this morning that the evidence found on samantha's body matches his. I hope they kill that bastard.

[JoJoJoJoJoJoJoJoJo]

THat's aweful. I feel really bad for her family, especially since she was SOOOOO young, no child, not even adult, deserves to go through what she went through. I hope he gets life, or even capital. What he did was cruel and sick. If there is a hell, he sure earned a spot.