A California woman has been sentenced to decades behind bars after a jury convicted her in the death of her 4-year-old daughter, authorities confirmed.
Maria Avalos was convicted in March 2026 of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death and was sentenced in May 2026 to 25 years to life in prison, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said. The child, identified as Mia Gonzalez, was found unresponsive inside a vehicle in East Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 2024; officials later determined she had been killed the day before.
Allegations and Evidence
Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri told jurors that Avalos had dressed Mia in "nice" clothing and then "ruined them with her blood" before the child’s body was discovered, according to reporting from ABC7. "This wasn't rash or impulsive. She thought about it. She did it," Teymouri said, and prosecutors argued that Avalos had turned her daughter into a "pawn" in an ongoing dispute with the child's father.
Mia Gonzalez.Credit: GoFundMe
A medical examiner's report reviewed by PEOPLE listed the cause of death as the "combined effects of strangulation and sharp force injury of the wrist," and noted there were other significant contributing conditions that were not further detailed in the public record.
Defense Account and Trial Outcome
Avalos' attorney told the court the defendant had been distraught after a relationship breakdown with Mia's father and feared that Child Protective Services might remove her daughter from her care. The defense presented this context as part of Avalos' state of mind leading up to the killing.
The jury convicted Avalos of one count of second-degree murder and one count of assault on a child causing death. Jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision on a special finding that the crime was willful, deliberate and premeditated.
Aftermath
Investigators say Avalos was in the car with Mia when authorities arrived and that she was detained at the scene. Friends and family remembered Mia as a shy, sweet child who lived with her parents and godmother. Those close to the family said Mia's father was devastated; a GoFundMe was later created to assist him with expenses following the tragedy.
Sources: Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, PEOPLE, ABC7.
