The jury deliberated for seven hours over two days before deciding to recommend the death penalty for Alejandro Avila for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of five-year-old Samantha Runnion.

The same jury that found Avila guilty of the crime voted to recommend death rather than a life without parole sentence. Avila will be officially sentenced July 22.

Samantha was abducted from outside her Stanton, California home while she played with a friend. Her nude body was found the following day 50 miles away. She was left on the ground as if it had been posed. Autopsy reports indicated she had been suffocated by pressing on her chest.

"The fact of the matter is one is down, but my baby is still gone and there are still going to be children victimized if we don't do something to stop it," Samantha's mother Erin Runnion told reporters. She has started a foundation to help parents protect children from predators.

See Also:
Runnion Jury Recommends Death Penalty

Background:
The Trial of Alejandro Avila
Profile: Samantha Runnion