ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA: A girl told her evil stepmother "I hope you die" after she fractured her neck and rubbed habanero pepper in her eyes in a series of cruel acts.
Mayra Chavez, 35, of Anaheim, California, left the 10-year-old with injuries, including a bone sticking out of an unhealed sore and bruises from head to toe.
A nurse told Orange County District Attorney's office it was the worst case of trauma and suspected child abuse she had ever seen, The Mirror reports.
What charges does Mayra Chavez face?
Chavez was also convicted of abusing three other children in the home, including another stepdaughter and two of her own children.
She was also convicted last month of one felony count of torture, two felony counts of child abuse and endangerment, and one felony enhancement of causing great bodily injury.
How was the victim tortured?
Details of the abuse that the girl suffered were provided during the trial which included being forced to kneel on rice or tin cans with her hands and legs tied.
According to witnesses, the 10-year-old girl was plunged face first into a bathtub full of ice while zip tied and had habanero pepper rubbed in her eyes.
The girl read a victim statement to a courtroom
The 10-year-old read a victim impact statement to a courtroom wearing her favorite color, purple, as she told her abuser "I hope you die."
The woman also faces charges related to abuse of her another stepdaughter and two of her own children. The jury also convicted her of assault of her 17-year-old son.
Judge Scott Steiner read a lengthy written statement before sentencing Chavez, detailing the horrific abuse and calling the defendant a “bridge troll” and a “demon."
How many years does Mayra Chavez face in prison?
She was given seven years to life plus seven years, ten months for torturing her 10-year-old and abusing the other children.
In August last year, the girl's father, Domingo Junior Flores, rushed the child to the hospital when she was unresponsive.
The girl weighed just 50 pounds and was unresponsive when she was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Orange County in August 2022. Her father told police and medical professionals that the little girl had harmed herself and had fallen down the stairs.
What did the Orange County District Attorney say?
"This methodical and diabolical torture of children was normalized in this household to the point these children thought it was their fault that they were being abused. The system failed this little girl," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
"The system failed her siblings. We will get to the bottom of how this happened and what can be done to prevent another child from suffering the fate of what these children suffered at the hands of the very people who were supposed to protect them. She underwent 17 surgeries for her knees, couldn't walk for nine months. When she was admitted she weighed 90 pounds," the girl's mother said in a statement.
"We sleep in soft beds with fluffy blankets surrounded by more pillows than we can count. We take warm baths – not baths filled with ice," she added.
"We throw bath bombs. We frost cupcakes and have movie nights. We play in our backyard whenever we want to – and sit in the warmth of the sun. We're making up for lost time. They not only survived; they triumphed," she added.
After seeing her abused daughter's body in hospital she said, "She was the personification of a whisper."
