Murder of Samantha Runnion

Samantha Bree (Jackson) Runnion (July 26, 1996 – July 15, 2002) was a five-year-old girl abducted from outside her home in Stanton, California, and murdered.

Kidnapping and murder
On the evening of July 15, 2002, Runnion was playing with a friend in her front yard when a man approached them asking for help in finding a lost dog. After a short conversation, he grabbed Samantha, forced her into his car, and drove away. A day later, her nude body was found 50 miles south in Cleveland National Forest. Runnion had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Police said that the killer was "extremely sloppy" and had left behind "mountains of physical evidence connecting him to the crime".

Alejandro Avila of Lake Elsinore, California, was arrested three days after the abduction. His DNA was found on Samantha's body, and her DNA was found in his car. Avila had previously visited his girlfriend in the condominium complex where Samantha lived and had been acquitted of molesting his girlfriend's daughter and niece. Police found child pornography on Avila's laptop computer, and he had booked 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 he could not have kidnapped the girl, abused, murdered, and then dumped her body 50 miles away in one day as the prosecution believed.

On May 16, 2005, a jury returned a guilty verdict, and Avila was sentenced to death. He is incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison on death row. Samantha's mother, Erin Runnion, launched a foundation called "The Joyful Child Foundation," whose mission is "Preventing crimes against children through programs that educate, empower, and unite families and communities."