A 35-year-old stepmother in California has been sentenced to 7 years to life and an additional 7 years, and 10 months for the severe mistreatment of her 10-year-old stepdaughter. Orange County Superior Court Judge Scott Steiner expressed strong condemnation, stating that he hopes she spends the rest of her life in prison, describing her as “evil incarnate” and unsuitable for life outside of incarceration.
Mayra Chavez was found guilty last month on charges including one count of torture, two counts of child abuse, and simple assault. The case came to light when the girl’s father brought her to the hospital in August 2022, claiming she had harmed herself and fallen downstairs. However, medical professionals discovered the girl weighed only 50 pounds, had a broken neck, extensive bruising, and an unhealed wound with bone protruding, KABC reported.
Earlier, Anaheim police had conducted a welfare check at the apartment in response to family concerns, but Chavez misled them by pointing to ample food in the kitchen. Unbeknownst to the officers, the 10-year-old was restrained to a bed during their visit.
Testimonies during Chavez’s trial unveiled the horrifying extent of the abuse. The girl’s sisters were forced to participate in her torture, involving zip-tying her to a bed, restricting her diet to oatmeal, making her kneel on rice or broken tin cans, and subjecting her to ice baths and hot pepper juice in her eyes. Chavez’s 17-year-old son was also a victim of simple assault.
The girl’s father, Domingo Junior Flores, awaits trial on charges of torture, child abuse, endangerment, and causing great bodily injury. Despite court order violations and reports of abuse to authorities, he was granted custody of the children.
At Chavez’s sentencing, the 10-year-old girl, using a glittery purple walker, expressed her profound suffering and wished death upon her stepmother. The girl’s mother described seeing her daughter in the hospital, emaciated and bruised.
District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced an investigation into the child services system’s failures that allowed the girl to remain in the custody of abusive guardians. He criticized the normalization of systematic child abuse in the household, emphasizing the need to prevent such tragedies and hold those responsible accountable.