The mother's boyfriend arrested at the death of a Lancaster boy, officials say

LANCASTER, California (KABC) –

The boyfriend of a 10-year-old Lancaster boy's mother who died at home last week was arrested on suspicion of murder, authorities said.

Anthony Avalos was found unanswered last Wednesday after allegedly falling in his house. He died the day after. The death was deemed suspicious by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities say they have arrested Anthony's mother's boyfriend about his death.

The boyfriend of Anthony's mother, Heather Barron, has already been identified as Kareem Leiva.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is expected to provide more details at an afternoon press conference.

While the authorities are investigating the boy's suspicious death, authorities say his baduality may have been a motivator in his death.

Brandon Nichols, deputy director of the Department of Child and Family Services of Los Angeles County, revealed in an interview Monday that Anthony "loved boys", but Nichols refused to provide more details. Times reported. Nichols said that the criminal investigation into the deadly abuse is ongoing.

Bobby Cagle, director of the Department of Child and Family Services, told Eyewitness News that the department was investigating whether homophobia played a role in the boy's death.

"One of the things we've heard is that there may have been some motivation on the part of the man in the family regarding the child's baduality, and so we're looking at that from very deep way., it was an alleged factor in the Gabriel Fernandez case, so this concerns us and we are looking at this angle as well as many others, "said Cagle.

Gabriel, 8, was murdered in 2013 after being tortured for a long time and finally beaten to death. His mother and boyfriend were convicted of killing the boy. They were sentenced earlier this month. In the case of Gabriel, there were also previous reports of abuse at DCFS.

Ministry officials said they had investigated 13 allegations of child abuse at Anthony's between February 2013 and April 2016.

"We know that the child has had severe head injuries, including cerebral hemorrhage, bruising and bruising all over the body, really horrible injuries to the child," Cagle said.

Cagle said the allegations included physical and badual abuse.

City News Service contributed to this report.