Community Corner

10 Years Later: The Brutal Killing Of Samantha Runnion

Samantha's mom soldier's on for a cause in memory of her 5-year-old daughter who was sexually assaulted and murdered by a Lake Elsinore man.

On July 16, 2002, 5-year-old Samantha Runnion's nude body was found near Killen Trail, off the Ortega Highway, just west of Lake Elsinore.

She had been dumped there, "posed … as if she was some sort of trophy,” according to Judge William Froeberg, who sentenced Samantha’s killer, Alejandro Avila, to death three years after he sexually assaulted and murdered the little Orange County girl.

Avila was a Lake Elsinore resident. According to archive news reports, he lured Samantha to his car as she played in her yard by telling her he needed help finding his lost puppy. That was July 15, 2002 – one day before Samantha’s mom, Erin, got the worst possible news.

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During Avila’s July 2005 sentencing, Erin sat in a packed Santa Ana courtroom, according to then North County Times reporter John Hall, who now serves as spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

“(Erin) wept openly as Froeberg outlined some very graphic details of injuries inflicted by Avila on Samantha during a vicious sexual assault and talked of how her murder by asphyxiation ‘sucked the life’ out of her family,” Hall reported.

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When Erin finally got her chance to address Avila that day in court, Hall recounted a mother’s fury toward her daughter’s killer.

"(Samantha) fought. I know she fought. I know she looked at you with those amazing brown eyes and you still wanted to kill her," Erin told Avila. "I don't understand it. I never will."

Avila showed no emotion throughout his trial and during the sentencing he sat with his head up, looking straight ahead, emotionless, Hall reported.

Froeberg gave the two defense attorneys — and Avila — a chance to comment at the sentencing hearing, but all declined.

Nine of the 12 jurors who convicted Avila returned to the courtroom to hear the sentencing.

"If ever there was a crime that deserves the death penalty, it was this one," foreman Terry Dancey told Hall. "Just imagine that little girl up on that hill. She just knew she'd be saved. But no one came."

Today, Avila sits on death row at San Quentin.

As for Erin, she’s still fighting for her little girl and children like her.

Determined to make a positive impact after her horrific loss, Erin founded The Joyful Child Foundation in memory of her daughter. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to preventing crimes against children through programs that educate, empower and unite families and communities. 

The Joyful Child’s programs include the a 10-hour interactive life skills and safety education curriculum for children ages 5-12. The Joyful Child sponsors radKIDS instructor certification training and coordinates teams that include law enforcement and parents to provide radKIDS as an after-school or community program. 

In addition to the radKIDS program, The Joyful Child also has an Adult Education for Child Protection program, which cultivates local ownership for ongoing prevention education in communities nationwide. The Joyful Child trains Ambassadors to coordinate the implementation of radKIDS in the community, and Joyful Child Educators to give presentations such as “Preventing Child Abduction” and “Recognizing Predatory Behaviors.”

The Joyful Child Foundation also hosts the annual Samantha’s Pride Awards, in which the group recognizes honorees for local, regional, and national efforts to protect children against crime. 

To find out how you can help Erin continue her mission to keep kids safe, visit The Joyful Child Foundation’s website: www.thejoyfulchild.org. --Joy Robinson contributed to this report.

 


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