I used to call Heather my aunt, but now I can only call her monsters. Not one time has the DA met with the family members on this case. And if the DA won’t stand up for abused children, all of us need to stand up for abused children. Today, we bring you a true crime documentary about the case of Anthony Avalos.
Anthony Nolan Avalos was born on May 4th, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. If time could have paused in that pure and innocent childhood, he would now be celebrating his 15th birthday. Anthony was the first child of Heather Maxine Baron and Victor Avalos, two young parents still trying to find their place in life.
As the oldest of six younger siblings, Destiny, Raphael, Angel, Noah, Bella, and David, Anthony quickly learned to care for and protect them, even though he himself lacked the nurturing he deserved. Not long after Anthony was born, his father, Victor, a construction worker, had to return to Mexico for work. He often made video calls to his son, trying to keep the family bond strong despite the distance.
But for Heather, life grew increasingly difficult. She worked part-time at a local Subway shop. Her modest income was barely enough to provide for the family. Eventually, Heather moved Anthony and the children into a small apartment on Challenger Way in Lancaster. His aunt, Maria Baron, who was very close to Anthony, once shared, “He was such a loving boy. Always liked to hug people. He was hardworking, loved to dance, enjoyed watching football with Uncle David, and always cheered for the Cowboys. He loved going to the park, was really good at video games, and especially loved eating the pupusas his mom made.”
But while Anthony was a sweet little boy, his mother, Heather Maxine Baron, had a childhood marked by pain and instability. She grew up with her two siblings, Crystal and David, after their mother, Wendy, left the family when Heather was just four years old. Years later, Heather married a man named Roger Brown, a man with a criminal record whom she had met through letters while he was serving time. Wendy told her children he was incarcerated for a theft-related case, but the truth surfaced sooner than expected.
According to Heather, she and her sister had endured negative experiences in the past with this man. Normally, someone who has suffered would do everything possible to protect their own children from similar harm. But Heather acted in the opposite way. She sometimes left Anthony with Roger, believing her son would be safe because he paid less attention to boys than to girls.
And then when Anthony turned four, he began showing signs that something was wrong in his environment. Two years later, Heather was accused of using inappropriate discipline and keeping her child in unsafe living conditions. These allegations led to the first DCFS investigation, a series of events that should have saved Anthony, but instead became proof of how ineffective the child protection system could be.
As a mandated reporter, Crystal’s therapist called the hotline on April 29th, 2014 to share what had been disclosed. The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) recorded and processed the report shortly afterward. During an interview at school, Anthony confirmed everything that had been reported.
He had never been taken to counseling as his mother had promised. Instead, his behavior began to change, showing signs of emotional instability consistent with his living conditions, a common reaction among children who have experienced negative influences in the past. His siblings also stated that Heather frequently displayed uncontrolled behavior at home, leading social workers to believe the family was experiencing inadequate child care.
However, instead of removing Anthony from the unsafe environment, DCFS placed the family in the Voluntary Family Maintenance program, a program designed for low-risk cases aimed at reducing the number of children placed in temporary foster care. Under this program, children remain with their parents without court supervision or legal representation to advocate for their best interests.
For Anthony, this was the first and defining mistake. One of the assigned supervisors was Matthew Mansfield, a veteran DCFS worker who had previously been involved in handling the Gabriel Fernandez case—another tragic incident that had drawn public attention. Mansfield, along with his colleague Mark Milman, brought in specialists from the Children’s Center of the Antelope Valley to assist Heather and her children.
According to an assessment report by counselor Luis Ramirez, Heather severely lacked parenting skills, showed poor judgment, signs of denial, and limited awareness of her own mental health condition. Family members also described her as emotionally exhausted, possibly related to postpartum struggles. She often cried, saying she felt disconnected and distant from her own children.
But those emotions didn’t stop at sadness. Heather frequently reacted with anger, and when upset, she imposed punishments that went far beyond appropriate discipline. Only a few months later, DCFS documented additional warning signs, but once again, Anthony remained in the very home he needed protection from. It was reported that when family members questioned Heather about her frequent use of harsh discipline that went beyond positive parenting, she simply replied, “How I raise my children is my own business.”
Despite showing clear signs of mental and emotional exhaustion, Heather continued to have more children. By the age of 24, she already had four and was pregnant with her fifth. Social workers in Los Angeles County did not take Anthony’s situation seriously. They refused to remove him from his mother’s care, even after multiple warning signs, such as when Anthony came to school with suspicious marks on his body noticed by teachers and even after he told them his mother had caused his injuries.
Another counselor from the Children’s Center, Wendy Wright, who had spent considerable time working directly with Heather and her children, continued to report the incidents. On October 14th, she called the hotline to report that Heather had acted aggressively toward one of the younger children. According to Wendy, Heather frequently used harsh and critical language toward her kids, expressing excessive anger instead of care.
Wright also stated that she had tried to reach out to Mark Milman, the DCFS caseworker assigned to the family, but received slow responses and no concrete action. The report was later classified as unsubstantiated, a decision that revealed the lack of accountability and ineffective oversight within the county’s child protection system.
“The entire time I was there—and I was there twice in the same day because it takes about two hours per child, so I was there in the morning then I came back in the afternoon—um, and I was there a very long time. Um, I saw nothing but anger towards those children, verbal abuse, emotional abuse. She showed absolutely no affection towards any of them. Okay. Even the two-week—at that time the baby was 2 weeks old. Okay, she seems completely detached.”
Shane Bulkley, another DCFS employee, was assigned to investigate Wendy Wright’s report. In his case notes, he wrote that Heather frequently yelled, used harsh language, and admitted to disciplining her children beyond positive limits.
Bulkley also recorded a statement from Mark Milman who said, “Given the children’s ages and behaviors, she’s doing everything she can.” However, both Bulkley and Milman later declined to comment when asked about that statement. Less than a month later, on November 5th, 2014, another therapist from the Children’s Center, Crystal G., called the hotline again.
She reported that one of Heather’s children said their mother was often strict and used harsh discipline. Milman contacted G., but their conversation was brief and led to no meaningful action. At the time, DCFS used a risk assessment scoring system to categorize cases. By policy, the Voluntary Family Maintenance program was meant only for low-risk families.
Yet Anthony, just like Gabriel Fernandez before him, was placed under this program, even though his file was classified as high risk. After reassessment, Anthony continued to score in the high-risk range, which should have triggered enhanced supervision, but Bulkley and his superiors dismissed the recommendation and closed the case, citing insufficient evidence to substantiate concerns.
By the end of 2014, Milman and his supervisor, Matthew Mansfield, decided to remove the Children’s Center from the case and brought in another agency, Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, to take over. This agency had also been involved in the Gabriel Fernandez case under the supervision of counselor Barbara Dixon.
The reason for replacing the service provider was never clearly explained. Crystal G., who was removed from the case, described the timing as very strange. Even more concerning, Barbara Dixon, the newly assigned counselor, had previously faced strong criticism for her lack of effectiveness in protecting Gabriel. In a 2017 trial, when Dixon was called as a witness in the criminal case against the social workers involved in Gabriel’s tragedy, she admitted that she had seen concerning marks on the child’s body, but failed to report them to the hotline despite state law requiring the reporting of any suspected child mistreatment.
In exchange for her testimony, Dixon was granted immunity from criminal prosecution, a detail that sparked major controversy within the child protection community. Despite having admitted her failure to report properly in the Gabriel Fernandez case, Barbara Dixon was still allowed to continue working and managed the files of numerous children in need of urgent monitoring and support.
It was no surprise that after being assigned to Anthony’s case, she brought about no positive change. During counseling sessions, Barbara focused on guiding Anthony instead of working directly with Heather, who was believed to be the root cause of the family’s instability. Her notes showed she advised the boy to listen to his mother more and do his homework regularly—an approach many experts later questioned for its appropriateness.
From February 2015 to January 2016, Barbara’s reports described Anthony as frequently crying and highly reactive, which she claimed made parenting difficult. However, her documentation was inaccurate and repetitive, rendering the file nearly useless. Several notes were copied word for word between sessions, while new hotline reports filed during the same period were never added to the record. When questioned, Barbara declined to comment.
By April 2015, Heather’s brother, David Baron, introduced her to Kareem Ernesto Leiva, a co-worker at a shipping facility in Santa Clarita. Their relationship quickly developed, lasting several years, and later they had children together.
To clarify, Anthony’s biological father was Victor Avalos. The next three children, Destiny, Raphael, and Angel, had different fathers who were no longer involved, and the younger ones, Noah, Bella, and Little David, were Kareem’s children. In total, 10 people lived together in a three-bedroom apartment at Village Point Apartments on East Avenue K in Lancaster.
Just a few months after Heather and Kareem met, the biological father of one of the youngest children contacted the police, alleging that Kareem had acted aggressively toward his son. That was the first time Kareem Leiva’s name appeared in police and DCFS records, and yet another crucial warning sign that was ignored. On April 27th, 2015, Deputy Sheriff Elijah Goff interviewed a two-year-old boy, one of Heather’s children from a previous relationship.
The child stated that his mother’s boyfriend, Kareem Leiva, had acted aggressively, causing redness and slight swelling around his ear. Goff noted in his report that he personally observed the unusual marks on the boy’s body. However, when the file was passed to Detective Chris Wyatt, the investigation came to an abrupt and inexplicable halt.
Wyatt never contacted Kareem, did not recommend prosecution, and quickly closed the case. Around the same time, DCFS staff never attempted to locate or interview Kareem, even though they knew he was frequently present at the home in the evenings and on weekends. According to DCFS policy, when abuse is suspected, caseworkers are required to contact the other children of the person being investigated or any previous guardians to review past behavioral history. No one took this step.
Had they done so, or even checked court records, they would have found that two other women had previously obtained restraining orders against Kareem after telling a judge that he had displayed controlling and aggressive behavior at home in front of their children. As Heather’s relationship with Kareem continued, she began telling social workers that Kareem was often angry and lacked self-control.
But once again, DCFS took no concrete action. The agency opened a dependency court case for one of the younger children, but did not do the same for Anthony or his siblings. Not long after, a newly assigned DCFS social worker, Anna Shortino, discovered some concerning marks and unusual signs on one of the younger children’s bodies.
Heather claimed the child had slipped in the bathroom on June 12th, 2015. Shortino doubted this explanation and called the hotline to report it, but admitted she only wanted to “document it for our protection.” Internal recordings later revealed that the discussion focused more on how to word the report properly to meet procedural requirements than on actually protecting the child. A voice on the tape asked:
“Mom says he fell in the shower. Child says he fell in the shower. Dad’s freaking out. Oh, were you alleging more neglect or alleging more physical abuse by an unknown perpetrator or…”
“No.”
“Which what’s—what’s our allegation? Would you say…”
“I know you—we have to—have to put some…”
“Cover our butt.”
“I know. To cover.”
According to official DCFS guidelines, all reports of suspected child mistreatment must be referred to law enforcement for a criminal investigation. This responsibility was assigned to Deputy Sheriff Billy Cox, who had previously been disciplined for mishandling a similar report in an unrelated case.
However, in his own report, Cox admitted that he had never contacted Heather or Kareem. He stated, “That’s common practice. If a report comes in from a social worker, we usually just stamp it acknowledged and move it along rather than investigate it ourselves.” In other words, law enforcement and DCFS each relied on the other to handle their part, and in the end, no one actually did.
By September 2015, Anthony was enrolled at Lincoln Elementary School in Lancaster, California. There, assistant principal Gia Groh began to notice him, a quiet student who always seemed anxious. During a private conversation, Anthony shared that his mother sometimes imposed strict discipline, confining him to his room for long periods without allowing him to go outside or interact with others.
He also said that his mother’s boyfriend, Kareem, used harsh psychological punishment and created physical distress—a form of coercion far beyond what a child could endure. Upon hearing this, Groh immediately called the DCFS hotline on September 18th. During the call, she described in detail everything the boy had said and even demonstrated the position Anthony had shown her. She said:
“Um, a little boy told—um, told me today that he moved out of his home and into his aunt’s home.”
“Mhm.”
“He and his brothers and sisters because his mom was hitting them and locking them up in their room for long hours. Um, let me look at my notes. Um, spanking them, putting them to do captain’s chairs in the corner, towards the corner.”
“Okay. What is that, captain’s chair?”
“Captain’s chairs. He demonstrated it for me where he has to put his back up against the wall and kneel down, like bend down.”
“So, it’s like—I mean, it’s a—it’s a thigh-strengthening exercise. So, could also be considered like discipline if you’re making a child do that for a long time. Okay. They’re hurting those thighs.”
“Okay.”
“And you said locking them up where?”
“In the—um, their rooms for hours on end. And so the aunt went and took them.”
“Okay.”
“And they’ve now gone to go live with the aunt.”
At the same time, Anthony’s uncle, David Baron, heard the same troubling accounts directly from the children when they visited his home. The kids said they were confined to their rooms, forced by Kareem to hold a physically straining position for long periods, and on one occasion were punished using a household object. One of the children said the man’s actions made them feel frightened and unsafe. When Heather arrived to pick up her kids, David and his wife, Maria, stopped her and called 911.
It was the first time the Baron family had intervened and the clearest proof yet that what Anthony had told his school was not a child’s imagination. Deputy Sheriff Michael Gallardo was the first to respond to the 911 call. When he met the children, he immediately saw the fear in their eyes—a look that, as he described it, couldn’t be faked. In his report, Gallardo wrote:
“I got in and talked with a couple of the kids, and a couple of the kids has told me some things that, uh, make me not want to release them right now. Um, I’m not going to release them. Uh, basically, they’re saying that the guy Kareem, that I referred to earlier, he—um, he’s been pretty physically abusive to them. Hit him with belts in the face, hit him with belts on the legs. Uh, he’s put him in like a seated squat position against the wall for tons of time on end. He locked him in the bedrooms. Um, apparently he held the youngest, Raphael, by his ankles over, uh, the flight of stairs. And that wasn’t even from Raphael. That was from Destiny gave me that information. And, uh, I tend to believe the kids. They seem pretty shooken up when I talked to them about it. Um, mom at this point says she’s willing to leave them here with brother. Brother is willing to have them stay here.”
“Okay.”
“So, that’s where I’m at.”
“Okay. So, you’re leaving them with the brother for, um, for how long?”
“Um, and I guess until you guys come out and, uh, do that referral that you guys have open right now, that 5-day referral.”
The next day, Anthony’s uncle, David Baron, personally called the DCFS hotline. His voice was urgent and filled with distress. He explained that the children had told him about deeply troubling things happening in that home. According to David, they were confined to their rooms for long periods, forced to manage on their own without being allowed outside.
When their mother’s boyfriend became angry, he would throw objects toward them, push them against the wall, and once pulled one child’s ear so hard it left it red and slightly swollen. David added that the children were often not given enough to eat, lived under strict conditions, and were afraid of being caught if they tried to get extra food.
When the hotline operator asked, “How long has this been happening?” a small voice could be heard in the background, honest and heartbreaking, saying, “A thousand weeks.” David also told the staff that Heather had shown emotional instability and lost control of her temper in front of the kids.
He even provided the agency with evidence documenting her fragile mental state and warned that Kareem associated with people who had criminal histories, making him fear that the situation could soon spiral out of control.
“Um, he said Kareem dragged him on the floor. He slammed him to the floor, like he’d pick him up and throw him on the floor.”
“Are they like rough playing or is he doing this intentionally to cause harm?”
“He—um, he—he’s admitted he doesn’t like the kid, so he just treats them like crap just because he doesn’t like them cuz he’s too hyper and stuff. So he—he locks them in the rooms and he was grabbing them by his ankles cuz they had a two-story house and he would hang them upside down by his ankles and start shaking them like, ‘Oh, I’m going to drop you if you don’t stop.’ And like I was thinking if he slipped one time, that’d kill the baby, the kid. So…”
“Okay. When did all of this happen? What the…”
“Um, we just found out about it, but I guess it’s been going on for months now. And they—u—my sister and and him said if they would tell anybody, they would be in a lot of trouble. And then when I saw the bruises, I asked, um, Raphael like what happened and he told me. So I separated the kids and I asked each one individually so that way they couldn’t just say the same story, and they all told me the same exact thing. He wouldn’t feed them until mommy came home. He would give them cold showers, and then he…”
“Do you know what an Indian burn is?”
“No. Is that like a carpet…”
“No. It’s like a—you grab somebody’s arms and you just start twisting your arms back and forth really hard.”
“Okay.”
“And he was doing that to them also and then throwing dirty diapers at their heads. And…”
“So your sister and Kareem stated that if they told anyone they would be—they would be in trouble.”
“Yes. And then, um, after Destiny told us, uh, we—when my sister know like, ‘Do you know that Kareem’s abusing your child?’ And she’s like, ‘No, no, no, it’s not true.’ And then when she took her home, she—um, she kept telling her, ‘You need to say it’s not true. It was not true.’ And Destiny said, ‘I’m not going to lie. I need to tell the police the truth.’ Cuz we told her we’re going to tell the cops. And so she grounded Destiny and locked her in the room and didn’t let her come out until the next day.”
Two days later, DCFS social worker Ikea Vernon visited the home of David and Maria Baron to meet with Anthony. The 7-year-old boy sat across from her and spoke in a quiet but steady voice, “Heather isn’t my mom anymore. This is my new home. I belong to the Baron family now. I’m not going back there. She used to keep us locked in our rooms and didn’t give us enough to eat.”
Those words were documented in the report. But instead of expanding the investigation, Vernon contacted Barbara Dixon, the counselor from Hathaway-Sycamores, who had been working in Heather’s home for 7 months. Barbara and two of her colleagues insisted they had never heard anything unusual from the children and even described Heather as a mother who was trying.
According to the file notes, Vernon was a new employee at the department and appeared hesitant to draw conclusions based on a child’s statements. When David and Maria went to the DCFS office to ask about the case’s progress, she refused to provide any information, saying that only Anthony’s mother has the right to know.
The couple left in despair, not realizing they could have filed a petition in court to request an emergency protective order for Anthony. Just a few days later, Heather still retained full parental rights. She brought the children back to their Lancaster apartment, closing the door that DCFS had failed to close for good. According to Vernon’s internal notes, she later saw Anthony again at Lincoln Elementary School.
The boy said his mother was better now and doesn’t lock the room anymore. A month later, Anthony and his siblings retracted all their previous statements. When the case was updated, every allegation against Heather and Kareem was classified as unsubstantiated. No one at DCFS seemed to know or wanted to admit that children in abusive environments often change their stories out of fear, not dishonesty.
By December 2015, Ikea Vernon officially marked all prior reports from assistant principal Gia Groh, Deputy Sheriff Gallardo, and David Baron as unsubstantiated. Although DCFS’s internal system still showed the family’s risk score as high, Vernon and her supervisor decided not to intervene further. Later, she explained that the decision was made because the children had retracted their statements and that she did not realize young victims often do so out of fear.
A month later, Barbara Dixon and Hathaway-Sycamores, the agency responsible for monitoring the family, terminated their contract, but that didn’t mean the nightmare was over. On April 28th, 2016, Mildred Blue, a teacher at a women’s support center, called the hotline. She reported that Heather’s children appeared exhausted and physically unwell, looking weak and malnourished.
One of them, according to Blue, had tried to find food in unsanitary places. The children said that Kareem forced them to argue with each other at home as a form of discipline. But when DCFS social workers arrived for interviews, the children denied everything. The follow-up file stated, “No further monitoring needed.”
Deputy Sheriff Billy Cox, who also received the same report, did not conduct an independent investigation, even though department policy clearly required that all child-related allegations be handled separately and not solely rely on DCFS evaluations. By the end of 2016, at least one more call about the Baron family was made to the hotline. The details were vague, lacking specifics, and once again, unsubstantiated.
From February 28th, 2013 to November 2nd, 2016, a total of 12 warning calls were made to the hotline. Twelve chances, and not a single protective action was taken. During all that time, Anthony and his siblings continued living under Heather’s care while she cut off contact with relatives and the teachers who had previously reported concerns.
Like in many other tragic cases, Heather chose to remove Anthony from his familiar environment, away from those who had asked questions. He was transferred to El Dorado Elementary School, a place that knew nothing about his past circumstances. And it was there that Anthony met teacher Harmony Bell, the one person who saw in him a kind, affectionate child who simply longed to be loved.
Anthony Avalos was the fastest runner in his fourth-grade class. Not only did he stand out during physical education, but he was also a high-achieving student with a maturity far beyond his years. According to his teacher, Harmony Bell, Anthony always knew how to listen and manage his emotions.
Sometimes he would raise his hand and ask to step outside just to take a few deep breaths. When a new student joined the class, Anthony immediately volunteered to switch seats so he could sit next to them, hoping to be the first to welcome and help them fit in. He was the kind of student every teacher hopes to have—gentle, considerate, and wiser than his age.
But behind that smile, Anthony always seemed worried about something. He carried a small Bible with him all day, clutching it tightly as if it were the only thing that made him feel safe. Once when the book fell to the floor, he trembled as he picked it up, tears streaming down his face, prompting Ms. Bell to gently comfort him. On the last day of school, Anthony wrote her a handwritten letter, short, but so sincere it could move any adult to tears:
“Dear Ms. Bell, thank you for teaching me everything you could. Meeting you was a blessing. I just hope that when I’m in sixth grade, you can come to New Vista so I can still see you. I hope you’ll come to my high school and college, too, so we can see each other for many years without any problem because we’re close and best friends. I just want to stay with you forever. But I know that can’t happen. I hope you have a really good life because you taught me how to be a good person. Love, Anthony Avalos, your friend.”
Ms. Bell later wrote in Anthony’s report card, “Anthony amazes me. He is kind, caring to everyone, always on time, and makes me smile every single day. I can’t imagine my classroom without him.”
In the summer of 2018, instead of days at the beach or preparing for a new school year, Anthony never returned to sixth grade. According to his aunt, Maria Baron, just a few days earlier on June 18th, Anthony had shared his personal feelings with his mother, hoping to be understood.
Maria said that in his situation, that took extraordinary courage because if there was one way to describe Anthony Avalos, it would be this: a brave child full of love who only wanted to be himself. Heather Baron later told social workers that Kareem Leiva had overheard the conversation between her and Anthony the night before.
The boy had said he felt different and that made Kareem angry. That night, according to statements, Kareem repeatedly used harsh disciplinary measures, treated Anthony severely, and forced him to endure punishment that lasted through the night. The boy was often deprived of food, restricted from using the bathroom, and made to perform tasks beyond his physical strength.
Everything happened in silence inside the small apartment in Lancaster, where neighbors heard footsteps but had no idea what was going on. On June 20th, 2018 at around 12:15 p.m., Heather Baron called 911. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies arrived within minutes. They found Anthony lying motionless on the floor, showing no clear response.
Heather said he fell. Emergency medical personnel immediately transported Anthony to Antelope Valley Hospital in critical condition. When she heard the news, his aunt, Maria Baron, rushed to the hospital. She saw Heather standing in the hallway, silent and expressionless. Maria begged to see her nephew, but Heather hesitated.
Desperate, Maria pleaded for just one last look, her hands trembling, head bowed, saying, “Please, just let me see him just once.” After a tense pause, Heather silently nodded. Inside the recovery room, Anthony lay on a white hospital bed. The small boy, only 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighing less than 80 pounds, showed severe signs of exhaustion.
Doctors said he was in critical condition due to biological complications. His medical readings showed his body was rapidly weakening. The doctors fought to stabilize him, but the heartbeat on the monitor began to slow. On June 21st, 2018, just hours after being admitted to the hospital, Anthony Nolan Avalos passed away.
He was only 10 years old. Only then did DCFS finally act after more than 12 reports over 5 years. But by that time, every effort came too late. Anthony’s six younger half-siblings were removed from the Lancaster apartment, the same place that had stolen his childhood. Heather Baron, 29, and Kareem Ernesto Leiva, 32, were arrested on June 20th.
Both were charged in connection with Anthony’s death, along with counts of child abuse and child endangerment. Kareem faced an additional charge related to one of the younger children. Some reports indicated that bail was denied, while others listed it at $2 million each. On the day Anthony passed away, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami—the same prosecutor who worked on the Gabriel Fernandez case—joined Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives to search Heather’s Lancaster apartment.
According to Hatami, what he saw sent chills down his spine. Inside the small apartment, there were suspicious marks on the floor, restraints attached to the children’s bedroom door, a belt found in a laundry basket, several bottles of hot sauce placed on the nightstand next to Anthony’s bed, and scattered grains of rice embedded in the carpet.
