Man sentenced to 30 years in prison for kidnapping 6-year-old Miami girl

A man convicted of kidnapping a six-year-old girl outside her northeast Miami-Dade home has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Last November, Leonardo Venegas, 35, was found guilty of kidnapping and child abuse after a jury deliberated for about two hours.

Venegas had been arrested in July 2023 after prosecutors said he snatched now 9-year-old Ah’Lyric. According to an arrest report, the child was playing in her apartment courtyard with her siblings when they noticed a white Range Rover parked nearby. The other children went inside, but the 6-year-old remained on the stairway.

Moments later, the girl said a man, later identified as Venegas, grabbed her arm and began pulling her. When she fought back, prosecutors said he picked her up and attempted to carry her away. She bit him on the arm, causing him to drop her. Venegas then slapped her and ran off, according to the report.

“I bit him,” Ah’Lyric told NBC6 at the time, adding she learned the move from her mother.

However, on Monday, the defendant’s family tried painting him as a caring, loving, active church member incapable of hurting anyone.

“He’s a good guy,” one of his friends told Judge Lody Jean.

Venegas’s attorneys once again claimed his innocence, claiming the little girl misidentified him.

However, the judge reminded the family of Venegas’ other side they possibly weren’t aware of.

Venegas and his family asked for a light sentence and for a chance for him to be rehabilitated. However, the judge told the family, “I feel for the family. They care about him. They are very hopeful, but hope doesn’t help me protect the community.”

Siding with state attorney Jared Lorenz, Judge Jean sentenced Venegas, who was facing up to life in prison, to 30 years in prison.

Venegas once again remained silent during the hearing.

Howard Srebnick, Venegas’s attorney, told NBC6 he plans to appeal the sentence. He also explained it’s possible Venegas gets deported to Argentina after he completes his prison time.

Venegas was also named a sexual predator.