The heartbreaking case of the child tortured and killed by his parents

The macabre crime of Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old Latino boy, shocked the Los Angeles community years ago after he his parents will torture and kill him. Even today, 8 years later, the event continues to spark outrage in a Netflix documentary series –The trials of Gabriel Fernández-, which relives the episode and explores the failings and errors of the child welfare system in the United States.

Gabriel Fernández died on May 24, 2013 at a local hospital, two days after emergency services found him unconscious at his home in Palmdale, a neighborhood in northern Los Angeles.

According to the autopsy, the boy had a fractured skull, several broken ribs and burns all over his body.

He had been attacked by his stepfather, Isauro Aguirre, 37 years. The prosecution said the man, who was 1.88 meters tall and weighed 122 kilograms, punched, kicked and burned the boy to death because he believed he was gay. Her mother, Pearl Fernández, 34, also participated in the torture.

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Aguirre was sentenced to death after being convicted of first degree murder aggravated by torture. As, the mother was sentenced to life imprisonment no possibility of parole.

In the last few hours, the case has become topical again as a judge has denied the overturning of the murder conviction of Pearl, who had requested his release on bail.

When reading the sentence for Fernández and Aguirre in March 2018, the judge classified the case as “The most aggravated and blatant torture this tribunal has ever witnessed. “ In addition, he assured that “to say that the behavior of both was animal, would be wrong because even animals know how to take care of their young,” he said and stressed that he expected that the two defendants wake up in the middle of the night thinking about what they had done to little Gabriel for the rest of their lives.

Gabriel had had a difficult childhood: he lived with his uncles and grandparents, because his mother did not want to take care of him. Later, already separated from the child’s biological father, she assumed guardianship of the child with her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre with the sole intention of receiving state aid.

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The trial revealed a horrific pattern of abuse, ranging from locking Gabriel in a cubicle for hours, forcing him to eat poop or kitty litter.

The initial investigation further found that officials from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) should have acted more diligently to prevent the tragedy.

A grand jury that previously deliberated on the case found that Gabriel had suffered physical abuse for at least eight months and had come forward. over 50 phone reports to social workers report signs of abuse.

DCFS social workers Stefanie Rodríguez and Patricia Clement, along with two supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were fired as a result of the case and later charged with child abuse and falsifying records.

With information from agencies.