KINGMAN – A local judge imposed the maximum punishment Wednesday after hearing about a young convict’s life challenges as well as the pain and suffering he caused the family and friends of the two people he murdered at the home they shared in the Hualapai Mountains outside Kingman.
Defense attorney Randall Craig spoke of a troubled childhood, the loss of two brothers to a traffic accident and a fentanyl overdose and mental health issues exacerbated by drug and alcohol abuse as factors that positioned Daniel Avila, 27, El Mirage, to shoot and kill Retta Atkins, 73, and Darren Van Houten, 50, during the June 27, 2022 home invasion.
“I want to reiterate my client’s remorse. It is sincere. It is genuine,” Craig said. “This will walk with him for the rest of his life. If he could, he would take it back, but he can’t.”
Avila apologized to victims who filled the prosecution side of Judge Doug Camacho’s courtroom.
“Two human beings that did not deserve to die. I killed two people who have family and friends who will never see them again,” Avila said. “Every single day I regret my actions.”
Avila spoke of his wish to gain an education in prison and a chance to own a home someday and have his own family.
Four victims addressing the Court countered that their families are shattered by loss and grief and that Avila does not deserve leniency.
“I hate being a victim,” Atkins daughter said. “I just hurt and I hate and I don’t like it.”
“No one wins today,” Atkins son said. “But, give us the closure we so desperately need.”
Deputy county attorney Jacob Cote echoed victim input that the majority of citizens are able to navigate life issues without resorting to murder.
Judge Camacho ruled that the harmful emotional impact upon victims of the double homicide constituted aggravation that significantly outweighed any mitigation resulting from the defendant’s troubled youth.
Camacho imposed consecutive 25-year prison terms for each of the two second degree murder convictions achieved through a plea agreement entered in December.
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