Personal Goodbye' For Runnion Family
Samantha's 6th Birthday Will Be Private Family
Celebration
Samantha Runnion never lived to see her sixth birthday,
but her family will hold a party for her nonetheless, as a private farewell.
(CBS) This is no ordinary day for the family
of Samantha Runnion, who was kidnapped, sexually abused, murdered, and
buried Thursday in a private burial service a day after a public funeral
attended by thousands at the Crystal Cathedral.
Friday would have been Samantha's sixth birthday,
and her mother, Erin, has planned a private family celebration with a Peter
Pan cake and decorations.
Erin Runnion says the party will be her family's
"personal goodbye."
For the Runnions, some anger is mixed in with the
tears.
Runnion says she cannot understand the actions of
the jury that freed the man now accused in her 5-year-old daughter's kidnapping
and slaying.
The suspect, Alejandro Avila, 27, was acquitted last
year of molesting two 9-year-old girls, including a former girlfriend's
daughter who lived in the same townhouse complex as Samantha.
"I blame every juror who let him go," said Runnion,
speaking in an interview on "Larry King Live" on CNN. "Every juror who
sat on that trial and believed this man over those little girls, I will
never understand."
Samantha was snatched in front of her Orange County
home on July 15 by a stranger who used the ruse of searching for a lost
puppy. Her nude body was found the next day off a rural highway near Lake
Elsinore, some 50 miles away in neighboring Riverside County.
Avila has been charged with kidnapping, murder and
sexual assault in Samantha's death. Avila has said he is not guilty.
"I have very little room for anger, very little room,
it's all hurt, it's all sadness," Runnion said of her feelings toward Samantha's
killer.
Runnion said she hasn't decided whether she would
attend Avila's trial.
"The district attorney has my complete faith and
our judicial process is going to have to do better this time and I think
it will," said Runnion, adding that her one relief is knowing that Samantha
isn't in pain anymore.
Read
a transcript of the 911 caller who found Samantha's body.
Read
about Samantha's funeral.
Read
news articles related to Samantha's death.
Return
To Samantha's Story
For information about preventing child abuse in California
click below. If they can't help you, ask for someone who can. NEVER
give up looking for help for an abused child!
Call this number
to report child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child 
1-800-422-4453
   
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