Inset: Brandon Ramos Valenzuela (Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry). Background: The intersection of Van Buren Street and Dysart Road in Avondale, Ariz., near where the crime occurred (Google Maps).
A 26-year-old man in Arizona has learned his fate for beating his ex-girlfriend in front of her daughter, causing internal injuries in a nearly “deadly situation.”
Brandon Ramos Valenzuela was sentenced to 8 and 3/4 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised probation for attacking his ex-girlfriend, the Maricopa County Attorney”s Office announced this week.
The defendant pleaded guilty in August to counts of aggravated assault with serious physical injury and child abuse, both domestic violence offenses.
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The brutal assault occurred in October 2023, and it was not just the mother that Valenzuela hurt.
The 11-year-old child said she woke up to Valenzuela “yelling at her mom,” and when she tried to get help, “the defendant covered her face, making it hard for her to breathe.” The little girl eventually managed to get out of the attacker’s grasp, ran away, and called 911.
Authorities recalled arriving to the home near the intersection of Van Buren Street and Dysart Road in Avondale, Arizona, to a gruesome sight.
“When officers arrived, they found the child’s mother lying in a pool of blood with lacerations on her head and bruising on her face,” the attorney’s office said. The woman was transported to a hospital, where she needed to be treated for a “skull fracture and several brain bleeds.”
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell showered praise on the child for her bravery in a scary circumstance.
“This 11-year-old showed incredible courage during what could easily have been a deadly situation,” Mitchell said. “Even one act of domestic violence is one too many. As prosecutors, we carry the responsibility to stand up for those who can’t, and to make it clear that abuse has no place in our communities—ever.”
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
