CAPITAL CHARGES POSSIBLE GIRL'S DEATH BY TORTURE COULD DECIDE CASE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Prosecutors may seek life imprisonment without possibility of parole or death for a Lancaster man accused of beating to death his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter on Father's Day weekend.

Prosecutors said the case against 21-year-old Gerardo Romero could potentially turn into a capital case if coroner and neuropathology reports show evidence to support an allegation of murder by torture in the death of Jasmine Avalos.

``What we're waiting to see is if there is evidence of a history of abuse as opposed to one incident, and the neuropathology report would also tell us just more about the abuse inflicted on this particular incident,'' Deputy District Attorney Flora Podratz said.

Romero and Jasmine's mother, 23-year-old Raven Rayleen Gibbons, are both jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

Romero has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and one count of assault on a child that caused death. Gibbons has pleaded not guilty to a charge of child abuse, with a special allegation of causing great bodily injury, as well as one count of assault on a child that caused death.

The preliminary hearing at which a judge will decide whether prosecutors' evidence is sufficient to warrant a trial was delayed Wednesday until mid-August.

The postponement was done in part so Romero and his attorney could discuss an offer by prosecutors to let him plead guilty to the assault charge and be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, and also because prosecutors are deciding whether to file capital charges.

The offer is good only until the preliminary hearing. As currently charged, both defendants face potential life terms with the possibility of parole.

Romero's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Mario Barrera, said in court that he made a counteroffer of having his client enter a guilty plea to second-degree murder for a sentence of 15 years to life, but that was rejected by prosecutors.

An autopsy has been completed on Jasmine, but results are being withheld. Sheriff's homicide investigators have placed a security hold on information related to the post-mortem examination, officials said.

Sheriff's deputies were sent to the couple's home in the 300 block of East Lingard Street the morning of June 19 after Gibbons called 911. The girl was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Podratz said Gibbons told investigators that before making the 911 call, she had called a hospital to ask some questions, ``presumably because of the condition her daughter was in.''

The 911 call was placed at 8:37 a.m. June 19, and Podratz said the hospital call was made sometime between then and the previous night. The beating is alleged to have occurred Saturday evening, Podratz said.

Gibbons and Romero were arrested later on June 19. The couple's 2-year-old child was placed in protective custody.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com