A 26-year-old man is in prison after being sentenced following his guilty pleas to child abuse and aggravated assault, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

Brandon Ramos Valenzuela received 8.75 years in prison and lifetime supervised probation for assaulting his ex-girlfriend in October 2023.

On the day of the crime, an 11-year-old called Avondale police for help at her home near Van Buren Street and Dysart Road where officers arrived to find the girl’s mother lying in a pool of blood with lacerations on her head and bruising on her face, according to a MCAO release.

The woman was taken to a hospital where she was treated for a skull fracture and several brain bleeds, authorities said.

The child told officers that she was awakened when Ramos Valenzuela was yelling at her mother.

When the child tried to get help, the release stated, the defendant covered her face, making it hard for her to breathe. He eventually let her go and fled.
 
“This 11-year-old showed incredible courage during what could easily have been a deadly situation,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in this week's release.