Michele Yvette "Missy" Avila (February 8, 1968 – October 1, 1985) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

teenager who was murdered by her former best friends and rivals, Karen Severson and Laura Doyle, in October 1985.

Background

Michele Avila grew up in

Arleta, Los Angeles Arleta () is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, with a high percentage of Latino residents and of people born outside the United States. Geography Arleta is bordered by the Los Angeles distr ...

, in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

. Michele Avila and Karen Severson had been best friends since they were eight years old. The two girls began to grow apart when they entered

San Fernando High School San Fernando High School (SFHS) is a high school of the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is located in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles, in the northeastern San Fernando Valley, California. It is near and also serves the City of Sa ...

; Severson reportedly grew jealous of Avila because she was considered more popular and attractive. Severson was also upset because Avila began spending less time with her, opting to spend her time with boys. Severson later started a rumor that Avila had been having sex with various boys. As a result, Avila was beaten up by a group of girls who accused her of sleeping with their boyfriends. During the girls'

junior year A junior is person in the third year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In United States high schools, a junio ...

in high school, Avila began dating a boy named Randy. Avila broke the relationship off after a month due to Randy's constant partying. Shortly after the break up, Severson and Randy began a relationship and eventually moved into an apartment together. Severson later told Avila's mother Irene that she once witnessed Randy pulling Avila onto his lap. Avila told Randy she was not interested in rekindling their relationship and advised Severson to break up with Randy. The incident angered Severson and she stopped speaking to Avila. Ten days before Avila's death, the two got into a physical altercation in a neighborhood park. According to witnesses, Severson threatened Avila with a broken beer bottle and then pushed and slapped her.

Murder

On October 1, 1985, Avila told her mother that she was going out with one of her school friends, Laura Doyle. Doyle picked Avila up and the two left. Four hours later, Doyle called Avila's mother and asked to speak to Missy. After Avila's mother told Doyle that she thought her daughter was with her, Doyle told her that she had dropped Avila off with three boys driving a blue

Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

. After getting

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

, Doyle said she returned to the location where she dropped Avila off, but she and the three boys were gone. On October 4, Avila's body was found face down in a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

in Big Tujunga Canyon in

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County in southern Calif ...

. She had been forcibly

drowned Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

in eight inches of water, her waist-length hair was hacked off and there was a four-foot log found on top of her body.

Conviction and aftermath

Irene Avila later said she had no reason to suspect Severson or Doyle were involved in her daughter's death. Both had attended Avila's funeral and Doyle sent the family a sympathy card along with $20. Severson also moved in with Irene Avila for a time to console her and become a "

surrogate A surrogate is a substitute or deputy for another person in a specific role and may refer to: Relationships * Surrogacy, an arrangement where a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for another person who will become its parent at bi ...

daughter" (although this is disputed by Severson). Severson was also seemingly obsessed with the murder. She visited Avila's grave several times a week, covered the walls of her room with pictures of Avila and newspaper clippings about the crime, and repeatedly visited the creek where Avila's body was found. At one point, she told Irene Avila that she had seen Avila's ghost. Police had no leads in the case and the case went cold. On July 26, 1988, Eva Chirumbolo, another teen who had taken the 45-minute drive into the mountains, came forward and told police about the murder. Severson and Doyle were arrested and charged with

first degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

. According to the prosecutors, Severson and Doyle lured Avila to the creek and then proceeded to yell at her about her supposed

promiscuity Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different Sexual partner, partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as pro ...

. Both girls accused her of having sex with their boyfriends and told her that she had messed up too many relationships. The two then held Avila face down in approximately six inches of water. To hold her body down in the water, the two placed a , log on her body. In March 1990, Severson and Doyle were convicted of

second degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. The jurors later said they were not convinced that the murder was planned and rejected the first degree murder charge. Karen Severson was released from prison on December 9, 2011, after serving 21.5 years. Laura Doyle was released from prison in December 2012 after serving 22 years. After Severson, out of prison, began promoting a memoir about the crime and her prison experience and made a deal to have a film produced, Avila's family sued her in 2015, seeking to take the profits of the sales. Because of this, the

State of California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

passed Missy's Law, requiring entities who are helping publish works made by criminals to contact the families of the victims about the said works.

In popular culture

*The case inspired a book, ''

Missy's Murder ''Missy's Murder: Passion, Betrayal, and Murder in Southern California'' is a 1991 non-fiction book by Karen Kingsbury and published by Dell Publishing. It concerns the murder of Missy Avila, in the San Fernando Valley region in Greater Los Angeles ...

'' by

Karen Kingsbury Karen Kingsbury (born June 8, 1963) is an American Christian novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists ...

, who covered the case. *The case also inspired a movie, '' A Killer Among Friends'', starring

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974) is an American actress who starred as Kelly Kapowski on NBC's ''Saved by the Bell'' (1989–1993), as Valerie Malone on Fox's ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1994–98), and as Lori on Netflix's ''Alexa & ...

and

Patty Duke Anna Marie "Patty" Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016) was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Aw ...

. *On January 13, 2012, the case was featured on an episode of ''

Deadly Women ''Deadly Women'' is an American true crime documentary television series produced by Beyond International Group and airing on the Investigation Discovery (ID) network. The series focuses on murders committed by women. It is hosted by former ...

'' called "Deadly Delinquents". *On March 31, 2013, the case was featured on an episode of '' Unusual Suspects'' called "Deadly Forest". *On December 17, 2014, the case was featured on the ''Dr. Phil'' show, with an interview with Karen Severson. *On October 5, 2018, the

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...

series ''In Plain Sight'' documented the case in the episode "Circle of Distrust."

References

External links