Andres ‘Andy’ Avalos gets third life prison sentence for murder

Convicted triple murderer Andres “Andy” Avalos Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to his third life prison term — for the death of his wife Amber Avalos in December 2014.

On Saturday, a jury found Andres Avalos Jr., 36, guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his 33-year-old wife.

The same jury also convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of his neighbor, Denise Potter, 46, and the Rev. James “Tripp” Battle. On Monday, he received two life sentences after the jury voted not to impose the death penalty, as had been sought by prosecutors.

Avalos was sentenced to life in prison by Circuit Judge Diana Moreland on Wednesday afternoon, and she ruled that all three life terms will run consecutively.

Avalos never denied any of the murders, but instead tried an insanity defense. The defense put on expert witnesses in a failed effort to support claims that he was mentally ill, causing him to have delusions about his wife cheating on him and preventing him from understanding the wrong in killing her.

Amber’s sister asked that Avalos be sentenced to life in prison for her death.

“The only love affair my sister has ever had is her love of Jesus,” Deanna Freniere said. “Darkness hates light and my sister was filled with light, so bright it shined on everyone she touched.”

Freniere, Amber’s oldest sister, said it was difficult to put into words the significance of her sister’s death, as she read from a prepared statement. Amber will never see her five sons become men, and will never be there for her daughter in all the moments a mother should be, she said.

Avalos, dressed in jail garb, never showed any emotion during the short hearing, even as he was escorted out of the courtroom and looked over at his wife’s family and the Battle family.

“After that horrifying day, our family had the daunting task of cleaning up the crime scene. I got to pack and clean Andy and Amber’s room, going through the most intimate things of a person’s life: pictures, bills, clothes, children’s drawings but most precious, my sister’s writings,” Freniere said. “She wrote her prayers in journal after journal, pages filled with her thoughts and hopes.”

Amber, “the prayer warrior,” prayed for anyone close to her, she said.

“Her only prayers for herself were to have a happy, healthy marriage, to live with a husband free of drugs, and in love with Jesus and healthy children that followed and loved the Lord,” Freniere said.

Their family had struggles early on in life, Freniere said. Amber was the family’s “momma bear,” always holding them together.

“Amber had a beautiful spirit about her that touched each person she came in contact with,” Freniere said. “She loved her God, husband and family more than anything. She stood her ground in her faith and she never gave up on her husband Andy, even thought he couldn’t help but constantly destroy and tear down the precious gift he had.”

Joy Battle, Battle’s widow, also asked that Avalos be sentenced to life in prison for Amber’s death.

“I considered her one of my very best friends,” Battle said. “Knowing her made me a better person.”

Battle also spoke of Amber’s love for Jesus Christ, and recalled how they would often kneel and pray for the Avaloses and their marriage.

Assistant State Attorney Art Brown echoed the family’s request that Avalos serve life in prison for the “brutal” murder in which he beat, choked, hanged and shot Amber.

Outside the courtroom, members of Amber Avalos’ family and the Battles’ family embraced and spoke with Brown and State Attorney Ed Brodsky. Their conversations were interrupted when Avalos’ mother became confrontational with Brown.

“I know what my son did. I know what my son did,” Nora Avalos shouted in the hallway before being escorted away by a courthouse deputy.

This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Andres ‘Andy’ Avalos gets third life prison sentence for murder."