LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $32 million settlement for the siblings and father of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos, who prosecutors say died of abuse and torture at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend despite repeated warnings to social workers.
The five supervisors unanimously approved the settlement in the Lancaster boy's 2018 death, which cast a shadow over the county's Department of Children and Family Services. The child's death came five years after Gabriel Daniel Fernandez, an 8-year-old Palmdale boy, was tortured and killed by his mother and her boyfriend while under social workers' supervision.
The latest settlement is on top of a $3 million deal reached with one of the county department's contractors, Pasadena-based Sycamores, which in 2015 provided home therapy for Anthony and was sued over allegations it disregarded concerns about abuse and failed to protect the boy.
