Gabriel Fernandez, an eight-year-old boy, was abused and tortured to death by his mother’s lover, Isauro, who thought he was gay. In fact, Isauro immediately informed the first responders that Gabriel was gay.

Gabriel spent his first three days of existence with his mother, who summoned her uncle to pick him up since he was getting on her nerves at the age of three days.

Children are unable to speak for themselves, fight for themselves, or resist abuse; they require someone to speak out for them, but Gabriel’s mother and boyfriend did exactly the reverse.

About Gabriel

On February 20, 2005, Arnold Contreras and Pearl Fernandez welcomed their baby Gabriel. Gabriel Fernandez was an average young man, a lovely young man who loves assisting others. Pearl despised Gabriel from the beginning, summoning his uncle Lemos Carranza to “come and retrieve his kid” when he was only three days old.

Gabriel’s great uncle, Lemos, reared and cared for Gabriel in his early years with his companion David Martinez. “She didn’t want him, and the rest of her family didn’t either. We convinced her to keep Gabriel and give it to us so we could raise it.”

Gabriel was reared by Lemos and David until the age of four, when he went to live with his grandfather. Gabriel’s grandfather, Robert Fernandez, was opposed to a same-sex couple raising a child. Gabriel stayed with his grandfather until he was eight years old, and his life was going swimmingly.

Gabriel Fernandez was placed in his mother and her boyfriend’s custody in 2012. Pearl said she returned Gabriel to the family to bond with him, but prosecutors argued she just wanted Gabriel in her custody to claim additional welfare benefits.

Gabriel entered the new school after reuniting with her birth mother and boyfriend, according to the recently released documentary series: The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. Jennifer Gracia, Gabriel’s schoolteacher, was the first to detect something was wrong with him; he constantly asking other children if “it’s usual for mums to slap their kids? Is it usual for you to bleed after being hit with a belt buckle?”

8 months of suffering for Gabriel Fernandez

Ezequiel, Gabriel’s older brother, testified that Gabriel was made to consume faeces and cat litter and was assaulted on a daily basis. In one case, Aguirre would take up Gabriel by the neck and drop him to the floor, then pepper spray him in the face, beat him with a belt buckle and metal hanger, then shot him in the face, chest, legs, and groyne with a BB pistol.

Gabriel was forced to consume rotting food, and if he puked, he was forced to eat his own vomit. He claimed that all of the violence and torture were directed at Gabriel, and that neither his mother nor her partner, nor his brother or sister, were abused.

According to his siblings, his parents would laugh at him while he was being tormented. Aguirre believed Gabriel was gay, which was a negative thing to him, and that is why he tortured him for eight months.

Pearl Fernandez contacted 911 on May 22, 2013, after eight months of abuse and torture, to report that her toddler Gabriel was not breathing. Gabriel had been killed because he had not cleaned his toy. When emergency personnel arrived, they discovered Gabriel naked on the ground, with a shattered head, broken ribs, and BB gun rounds in his skin. Aguirre’s first statement was that Gabriel was gay, which confused the audience.

The medics took him to the hospital, where physicians declared him brain-dead. He died two days later, on May 24, 2013, of blunt force injuries, neglect, and hunger, according to the official autopsy.

Pearl and her boyfriend Aguirre were arrested on May 23, 2013. Fernandez was first charged with criminal child endangerment, while Aguirre was charged with attempted murder. When Gabriel died, however, both of them were charged with first-degree murder under torture-related circumstances.

Pearl pled guilty to escape the death penalty on February 15, 2018, and was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of release. In court, she stated, “I want to say I’m sorry for what occurred. I wish Gabriel were still alive. Every day, I wish I had taken different decisions. I apologise to my children and want them to know how much I love them.”

“You want to suggest the behavior was animalistic, but that would be incorrect because even animals know how to care for their young, some to the point of sacrificing their own lives,” Judge Lomeli stated during the sentencing.

Mother’s Day card before his death

Gabriel produced a Mother’s Day card for his mother just days before she tortured him to death. The card features a picture of a house that Gabriel colored and the words “Open the door to see who loves you!” – which leads to a picture of Gabriel from school.

In the card, he wrote “My Mom is Special! My Mom is special because she is a loving mom and I love her because she is beautiful. 

The card also included a Mother’s Day coupon that he wrote: “This coupon good for a time for me and you.”

Now Pearl Fernandez

Pearl Fernandez never wanted Gabriel, prosecutors think that during his final thrashing Pearl instructed Aguirre. Her family members claim she was ignorant and began using drugs at a young age, halting her brain development. She was later diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and an eating issue.

Pearl Fernandez, aged 37, is serving a life sentence without the chance of release at the Central California Women’s Facility for the first-degree murder of her son. On June 21, 2018, Pearl was admitted to the facility. There have been reports over the year that Pearl Fernandes was beaten up by other convicts, but these charges are impossible to substantiate.

Current Situation of Isauro Aguirre 

Isauro Aguirre, on the other hand, pled not guilty to first-degree murder with exceptional circumstances of torture. Finally, he was sentenced to death. On June 13, 2018, he was admitted to San Quentin State Prison.

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez is a six-part crime documentary that examines Gabriel Fernandez’s killings and the reactions of the media and local authorities.

“Red Flags Everywhere”

There were red lights everywhere, starting with Gabriel’s birth, when his mother didn’t want him, and later, when he was 8 years old, when she suddenly wanted to interact with him. The teacher did her best, but the authorities failed to do their job properly. Stefanie Rodriguez, then 34, and Patricia Clement, 69, as well as their supervisors Kevin Bom, 40, and Gregory Merritt, 64, were charged with child abuse and fabricating the public record in 2016. Charges against the cops were dropped two years later, in January 2020.

The social workers were accused of downplaying evidence of Gabriel’s domestic abuse and falsely declaring that safety initiatives were working for him. In addition, nine sheriff’s deputies were reprimanded internally for failing to adequately investigate the abuse accusations.

A systemic flaw existed, but a child’s death should not be the only way for this flaw to be exposed; it should never require someone’s death to address flaws and make improvements in child safety.