Mia Gonzalez was found unresponsive in a car in East Los Angeles in January 2024
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A California woman has been sentenced to decades behind bars for killing her 4-year-old daughter more than two years ago.
The child, Mia Gonzalez, was found unresponsive inside a car in East Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan, 25, 2024, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE, noting that the child had been killed the day before.
Her mother Maria Avalos was convicted of murder in March 2026 and sentenced this month to 25 years to life in prison, per the district attorney’s office.
Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri has said that Avalos had dressed Mia in “nice clothes and then ruined them with her blood” before her body was found, ABC 7 reported.
“… This wasn’t rash or impulsive. She thought about it. She did it,” Teymouri told the jury during trial, further alleging Avalos had turned her daughter “into a pawn” in her dispute with the child’s father, according to the outlet.
Avalos’ lawyer argued that she was in distress after a fallout with Mia’s father and worried that her daughter would be taken from her by child services, the outlet reported.
A medical examiner determined Mia died as a result of “combined effects of strangulation and sharp force injury of the wrist,” according to online records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office reviewed by PEOPLE.
The report said there were “other significant conditions” that caused her death, but did not provide further details.
According to investigators, Avalos was in the car with Mia when the child was found and was detained immediately, ABC 7 reported at the time.
Mia lived with her parents and godmother, according to those who knew her, KTLA previously reported.
“She didn’t talk much, she was really sweet,” Lianna Zomorano, who treated Mia like a “younger sister,” told the outlet at the time. “She knew how to make people laugh, she’d run around, she was cute.”
Zomorano further said Mia’s father was shaken from the murder. “It’s a lot, [his] only kid, and [he] doesn’t have her anymore,” she told the outlet.
A GoFundMe was set up soon after Mia’s killing to assist him.
Avalos was found guilty of one count each of second-degree murder and assault on a child causing death.
The jury was deadlocked on the special finding that the crime was done willfully, deliberately and with premeditation, the district attorney’s office confirmed to PEOPLE.
