Man to be arraigned in California girl's killing

Alejandro Avila, 27, will be arraigned Monday in connection with the Samantha Runnion case.

SANTA ANA, California (CNN) -- A suspect will be arraigned Monday on charges related to last week's killing of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, officials said.

Alejandro Avila, 27, who was arrested Friday and booked on suspicion of murder after an intense investigation into the girl's abduction and death, will appear before a judge at Orange County's Central Justice Center.

Samantha was snatched from her neighborhood in Stanton on Monday evening. Her body was found less than 24 hours later in Riverside County, more than 75 miles away.

Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona said Sunday that DNA evidence was among the clues that led investigators to Avila.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Church services across Orange County, California, remembered 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, whose death stunned an entire community. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports (July 22) Play video CNN's Dave Mattingly says DNA evidence allegedly links Alejandro Avila to the kidnapping and killing of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion (July 21) Play video Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona confirms the arrest of Alejandro Avila in the kidnapping and slaying of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion. (July 19) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION • Who is likely to abduct a child  • Missing children facts  • Safety experts offer tips  • Tips for children to avoid abduction    RESOURCES • TIME.com: How to keep your child safe  • CNN Access: Photographer interviews Avila mom

"[Physical evidence] doesn't mean specifically DNA evidence," he said on "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer." "But DNA evidence is included in that."

Avila's mother, Adelina Avila, said she was certain her son was innocent and had been at a local mall at the time of Samantha's kidnapping.

Alejandro Avila -- a production line supervisor from nearby Lake Elsinore who was acquitted last year of molesting two 9-year-old girls -- was taken into custody after authorities began focusing on him based on tips from the public, Carona said.

"I am 100 percent convinced that Mr. Avila is the one who kidnapped and murdered Samantha Runnion," Carona said Saturday.

"He made mistakes at the original crime scene of the abduction, and he made mistakes at the crime scene in Riverside County," Carona said. "We were able to capitalize on those mistakes."

Carona said he believes Avila acted alone but that the investigation is ongoing.

He said his department and the FBI are sifting through the information they have gathered to see if any of it matches unsolved cases in the area.

With a suspect in custody, Samantha's mother, Erin Runnion, stepped outside her Stanton apartment Saturday evening and made her first public comment on her daughter's death -- a tearful thanks to the hundreds of well-wishers who have left flowers, stuffed animals, cards and letters at a makeshift shrine.

"I cannot tell you how much all of this has meant to us," Runnion said. "We come out here every night, and we are working to read everything that you've written, but it takes a long time."

The neighborhood association has asked that the public stay away, giving Samantha's family a chance to grieve privately.

Suspect's mother defends son

Avila's mother said that the crime appalled her.

"Whoever committed that crime needs to be tied up to something and burned up alive," Adelina Avila said. "Because there is no human being who can do that. That person needs to be suffering."

Avila's mother said that her son has tried since his acquittal last year to be accompanied whenever he was around children.

Avila told his mother that investigators were trying to get him to confess to the killing but he had declined to do so, she said.

Authorities seized three cars from the family, she said. They include a green Thunderbird, a white Buick Century and his sister's green Nissan, she added. In addition, they took some of his clothing and his sister's computer, she said.

Killing stuns community

Samantha's kidnapping and death galvanized and shocked the community, which began distributing fliers of the man they believed took the girl, a description based on what Samantha's 5-year-old playmate told investigators.

Erin Runnion, Samantha's mother, emerged Saturday to thank a crowd outside the family's home in Stanton, California.

The young friend said the two were outside playing when a man stopped in his car, said he needed their help finding his puppy and then forced Samantha into the vehicle, authorities said.

The girl's naked body was found a day later in the woods near a highway in Riverside County. Authorities said she had been sexually assaulted and that the suspect had spent several hours with her before the killing. The cause of death was asphyxiation.

On Friday, authorities played the tape of a chilling 911 call from a man who found the girl's body. His voice shaking, the caller said he was "freaking out" and "really nervous."

"I'm so scared right now, and it's a little kid," said the man, identified only as Justin.

Moments later, he said, "It's a baby. I think it might even be the little girl that's been on the news. It's a little girl, I swear. We just looked. As soon as we seen her, we left."

-- CNN Correspondents Rusty Dornin, Charles Feldman, Thelma Gutierrez and David Mattingly contributed to this report.