We, the comrades of Unit 1012, will honor and remember Samantha
Runnion every year on July 26 and July 15. We, the comrades of
Unit 1012: The VFFDP, will make her one of The
82 murdered children of Unit 1012, where we will not forget her. Let us
remember how she lived and not how she died.
In loving memory of her, we will
post information about her from Wikipedia and also endorse the Joyful Child
Foundation. We felt for her family, as the same way we felt for Marc Klaas.
We thank God that Proposition 34 was defeated, if not, the public
will not be satisfied. One of the Seven Good Judges, the Lord Chief Justice Rayner Goddard once said in a
speech in the House of Lords on April 28, 1948:
“There is one other consideration which I believe should never be overlooked. If the criminal law of this country is to be respected, it must be in accordance with public opinion, and public opinion must support it. That goes very nearly to the root of this question of capital punishment. I cannot believe or the public opinion (or would I rather call it the public conscience) of this country will tolerate that persons who deliberately condemn others to painful and, it may be, lingering deaths should be allow to live…”
INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Runnion
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Samantha
Runnion
|
Samantha Runnion
|
|
Born
|
Samantha
Bree Runnion
July 26, 1996 Boston, Massachusetts |
Died
|
July
15, 2002 (aged 5)
Stanton, California |
Cause of death
|
Murdered
|
Nationality
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American
|
Citizenship
|
United
States
|
Known for
|
Murder
victim
|
Parents
|
Derek
Jackson (father)
Erin Runnion (mother) |
Samantha Bree Runnion (July 26, 1996 – July
15, 2002) was a five-year-old American murder victim. She was born in Boston,
Massachusetts on July 26, 1996, and her family were residents of Stanton,
California.
Kidnapping and murder
Samantha Runnion was abducted from her
front yard on July 15, 2002 by a man who told her he had lost his dog and
needed help finding it. The incident happened in full view of her friend Sarah
Ahn, who was able to describe in detail to police the kidnapper's appearance
and the car he was driving. A day later, her nude body was found by a passerby
in Cleveland National Forest 50 miles to the south. An autopsy found that she
was sexually assaulted and had died of manual asphyxiation. As she had fought
her attacker, a sample of his DNA was found under her fingernail. Police
described the killer as "extremely sloppy" and that he had left
behind "mountains of physical evidence connecting him to the crime".
The suspect, a Lake Elsinore,
California, man named Alejandro Avila, was convicted of first-degree murder
with special circumstances in May 2005. His DNA was found on Samantha's body,
and her DNA was found in his car. He was arrested three days after the
abduction. Avila had previously been to the condominium complex where Samantha
lived, because his ex-girlfriend resided there: he had been previously
acquitted of molesting her daughter and niece. On May 16, 2005, the jury
returned a verdict of death. On July 22, Avila was formally sentenced to death.
He is incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison on death row.
Among other evidence, police reported
finding child pornography on Avila's laptop computer and an examination of his
credit cards showed that he had used them to book a motel room on the day of
the murder, where it was believed that Samantha was killed. Avila's public
defender argued during the trial that it was impossible for him to have
kidnapped the girl, abused, murdered, and then dumped her body 50 miles away in
the course of one day as the prosecution believed.
Her kidnapping and murder occurred
during the trial in San Diego of David Westerfield, accused of the kidnapping
and murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. This led to fears that Samantha's
case could affect Westerfield's trial, as media coverage about Samantha was
heavy. The judge in the Westerfield case told the jury, which was not
sequestered, not to read or watch any news reports about Samantha, but added
that Samantha's case was not similar in any way to Danielle’s.
Joyful Child Foundation
The Joyful Child Foundation was
established in her memory. The Joyful Child Foundation—In Memory of Samantha
Runnion (TJCF) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 after
the abduction, molestation and murder of five-year-old Samantha Runnion. TJCF
is dedicated to raising awareness about child sexual abuse and abduction while
facilitating proactive community organizing to give everyone an opportunity to
participate in the national movement to stop violent sexual crimes against
children.
The Joyful
Child Foundation was established in 2002 by the Runnion family after the
sexual assault and murder of five-year-old Samantha Runnion in 2002. Its first
initiative was "Samantha's Pride" which aims to facilitate the
establishment of child watch programs in communities across the US. As at the end
of 2004, 51 programs had been established concentrated in the Orange County,
California area of southern California. The California Conservatory of the Arts
sponsored a group called the Kids Next Door who recorded a fundraising
Christmas album at the end of 2004 with funds going to the Joyful Child
Foundation.
In addition
to funding the "Samantha's Pride" initiative, the Joyful Child
Foundation will use donations to
·
fund children's creative writing and artistic
programs; and
·
fund nonprofit organisations that seek to prevent
child abuse and abduction; and
·
research into predator behaviour and recidivism.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-death-penalty-upheld-for-samantha-runnions-killer-20140630-story.html
State
high court upholds death penalty for Samantha Runnion's killer
By V
The California Supreme Court has
upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of abducting 5-year-old Samantha
Runnion from a Stanton condominium in 2002 and killing her.
Alejandro Avila was sentenced to death
in 2005 for Samantha's death, which became a high-profile case and led to the
implementation of a statewide Amber Alert program.
But Avila
appealed his verdict to the state high court, claiming that he received an
unfair trial and that the court made several errors, including denying a change
of venue for the highly publicized case.
The court,
however, disagreed. In a ruling issued Monday, the justices wrote that Avila's
verdict was not biased and that evidence presented during trial strongly
supported his conviction and sentence.
"The
crime of this case, kidnapping and then brutally killing a 5-year-old child for
sexual enjoyment, was truly appalling. And the defendant was solely responsible
for that crime," the court wrote.
The ruling
was written by Justice Ming W. Chin. There was no dissenting opinion.
Samantha
was kidnapped on July 15, 2002, while she was playing with a friend. Her naked
body was discovered the next day in a remote area near Lake Elsinore. An
autopsy revealed she had been sexually assaulted.
Her
kidnapping and murder drew national media attention after then-President George
W. Bush praised former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona for Avila's
arrest.
Samantha's
mother, Erin Runnion, became an advocate for protecting children against sexual
abuse and established a nonprofit organization, the Joyful Child Foundation, in
her daughter's memory.
Orange
County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said in a statement Monday that he was
pleased by court’s ruling.
“For
the heinous crime he committed against Samantha Runnion, the only appropriate
punishment is death, although it still falls far short of justice,”
Rackauckas said. “I can only imagine the sorrow that
Erin Runnion feels every day of her life. She didn't get to see Samantha go to
prom, graduate from high school, and go off to college this year.”
To learn more:
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