A California mother is behind bars after police say she killed her 4-year-old daughter and left her body inside a vehicle, in East Los Angeles.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Mia Gonzalez was found unresponsive inside a car in a business parking lot late Thursday, in the 4800 block of Civic Center Way. First responders rushed her to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police detained the victim’s mother, 38-year-old Maria Avalos, who was also inside the vehicle, and charged her with suspicion of murder. An autopsy report later indicated that the victim died from “combined effects of strangulation and sharp force.”
ABC 7 reports that family members said it’s possible that Avalos had been driving the vehicle for days with her daughter’s body. Family members said she left early last week with Mia in the car with her.
“Mia was a really good kid,” her godmother, Noemí López, said. “She was the light of my home. She didn’t deserve this.”
Mia’s father told the station that although there had been issues with Avalos, he never anticipated she would kill their child.
“We were trying to contact her,” López continued. “She wasn’t responding for two days. She said she needed space, that she was going through a lot.”
“She should’ve asked for help. She should’ve called me. Now she’s trying to call me from jail. What does she want now? She already did her part, now let me do my part.”
NBC 4 reports that Avalos made her first appearance Tuesday. Her next hearing is scheduled for March 13. She remains jailed.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with expenses.
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[Featured Photo via GoFundMe]
