Murder of Gabriel Fernandez
Gabriel Fernandez was an eight-year-old boy from Palmdale, California, who was abused and tortured over a period of months that ultimately ended in his fatal beating on May 22, 2013. His mother, Pearl Fernandez, and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, were both charged and convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances of torture. Pearl Fernandez was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and Isauro Aguirre was sentenced to death.
Throughout Fernandez's eight month stay with his mother and Aguirre, multiple people reported signs of abuse to social workers with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. However, Fernandez was never removed from the household. This led to several concerns over the effectiveness and efficiency of social services in Los Angeles County, and ultimately led to four social workers being criminally charged in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Abuse
In 2012, Pearl Fernandez, the biological mother of Gabriel Fernandez, was given child custody of Gabriel, reportedly to gain welfare benefits. She was given custody in spite of concerns from her family, who had been taking care of Gabriel, that she was neglectful towards other children. Fernandez then was moved in with his mother and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre.While in the household of Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre for eight months, Gabriel Fernandez was systematically abused and tortured. The abuse included being forced to eat cat litter and feces, forced to eat his own vomit, regularly beaten which caused broken bones, burned in various parts of the body, shot in various areas of the body including the face and groin with a BB gun, forced to wear female clothing, forced to sleep bound and gagged in a small cupboard, pepper sprayed, burned with cigarettes, given cold baths, and forced to eat spoiled or expired foods. According to Fernandez's siblings, while Fernandez was being abused his parents would laugh. Aguirre reportedly abused Fernandez because he believed he was homosexual; there is no evidence that Fernandez was in fact homosexual. The abuse did not extend to Fernandez's siblings.
Death
On May 22, 2013, Pearl Fernandez called 9-1-1 to report that her child, Gabriel Fernandez, was not breathing. Fernandez had been fatally beaten by his mother and Aguirre after failing to clean up his toys. When first responders arrived, they found him on the ground naked with several injuries. Aguirre explained to them that Fernandez was "gay". Paramedics rushed him to the hospital where doctors declared him brain dead. He passed away two days later on May 24, 2013 at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. He died at the age of eight years, and the official autopsy declared he died of blunt force trauma coincided with neglect and malnutrition.Victim
Gabriel Fernandez was born on February 20, 2005 to Arnold Contreras and Pearl Fernandez. Shortly after birth, Fernandez was put in the custody of his great-uncle on his mother’s side, Michael Lemos Carranza, and his partner David Martinez. They continued to raise Fernandez for four years. In 2009, four-year-old Gabriel moved in with his grandparents, due to his grandfather's objection to Carranza’s and Martinez’s same-sex relationship. He lived with his grandparents until 2012, when custody of him was given to his mother Pearl Fernandez and her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre, despite concerns for his welfare expressed by the family. Throughout his eight month stay in the household, Fernandez was abused and tortured. On May 22, 2013, Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre severely beat Gabriel and he was transported to the hospital by emergency services. He was declared brain dead and taken off life support at Children's Hospital Los Angeles on May 24, 2013. His official autopsy declared his cause of death to be blunt force trauma commingled with malnutrition and neglect. At the time of his death he was 4 feet 1 inch tall and weighed 56 pounds.Fernandez had two siblings and attended first grade at Summerwind Elementary School, where his teacher was Jennifer Garcia. Garcia described Fernandez as a kind child who enjoyed attending school.
Perpetrators
Pearl Fernandez
Pearl Cynthia Fernandez was born on August 29, 1983 to Robert and Sandra Fernandez. During her childhood her father was in and out of jail, and Fernandez has claimed that her mother did not love her and would hit her as a child. At the age of nine, Fernandez began using methamphetamine and drinking alcohol, and at the age of eleven, Fernandez decided to run away from home. She dropped out of school in the 8th grade. As a teenager, Fernandez claimed that her uncle attempted to rape her, and that some men had held her hostage for a period of days taking turns raping her, which led to her having suicidal thoughts while at the hospital recovering. She has four children with Arnold Contreras, including Gabriel. When Gabriel was born she abandoned him at the hospital three days after his birth; however, she regained custody of Gabriel in 2012. Additionally, she claims that many of her romantic partners, including Aguirre, were abusive to her. However, Elizabeth Carranza, Fernandez's aunt, and her husband claim that Fernandez falsely portrays herself as a victim, and that it was Fernandez who was abusive and controlling towards her romantic partners. Additionally, Fernandez had pending charges against her for threatening to stab Arnold Contreras. In the months following Gabriel's death, Pearl reported abusing the opioid drugs Oxycodone and Norco.Fernandez has been diagnosed with several mental health issues including depressive disorder, developmental disability, a possible personality disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder. In 2011, Fernandez took a cognitive ability test, scoring in the 3rd percentile in the verbal comprehension portion of the test, which is on par with a typical 2nd grade student. Clinical psychologist Deborah S. Miora stated that Fernandez is "virtually unable to use thoughts to guide her behavior and control her emotional reactions."
Currently, Fernandez is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for first degree murder with special circumstances of torture at Central California Women's Facility. She was admitted to the facility on June 21, 2018.
Isauro Aguirre
Isauro Aguirre, also known as Tony Aguirre, was born on June 13, 1980. Aguirre repeated two grades in school and ultimately dropped out, implying a possible learning disability. He worked for Woodland Park Retirement Hotel where he was a caregiver and a driver. Executive director of the retirement home and former boss of Aguirre, Susan Weisbarth, described him as a "quiet, down to earth nice person, always willing to help.” She also commented that throughout his three year employment he was patient and loving, and would commonly change the diapers of elderly residents at the facility. Staff at the facility nicknamed him "Shaggy," which was, according to Weisbarth, a term referencing his endearment. Ex-coworker Sherline Mille, who also worked for Woodland Park Retirement Hotel, noted that while Aguirre was driving residents he would often drive them the scenic route so they could get to see views other than the freeway. In October 2012, Aguirre began working as a security guard for AVL Private Security; through AVL he worked at the Vallarta Market in Palmdale, California. Aguirre met Pearl Fernandez roughly a year and a half to two years before they took custody of Gabriel Fernandez. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall.Aguirre was charged with first degree murder with special circumstances of torture for murdering Gabriel Fernandez. He pleaded not guilty; however, the jury found him guilty and recommended he be sentenced to death, which was accepted by Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli. He was admitted to San Quentin State Prison on June 13, 2018, where he is currently awaiting execution. However, his execution has yet to be set in accordance with the moratorium on capital punishment issued by California governor Gavin Newsom.
Legal proceedings
On May 23, 2013, Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre were arrested; Fernandez was arrested for felony child endangerment while Aguirre was arrested for attempted murder. However, when Gabriel Fernandez died Fernandez and Aguirre were both charged with first degree murder with special circumstances of torture; prosecutors pursued the death penalty.Pearl Fernandez pleaded guilty on February 15, 2018 to her charge as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In court she stated, "I want to say I'm sorry for what happened. I wish Gabriel was alive. Everyday I wish that I would have made better choices. I'm sorry to my children, and I want them to know that I love them."
Trial of Isauro Aguirre
Isauro Aguirre pleaded not guilty to the charge of first degree murder with special circumstances of torture, and the case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami and Deputy District Attorney Scott Yang.In September 2017, jury selection began for the case. Questionnaires were given to prospective jurors, and they were informed that the trial could last as long as six weeks. Additionally, they were told the trial involved “extensive internal and external injuries” of the victim. The jury composition was seven women and five men.
When the trial began jurors were given details about the extensive abuse Gabriel Fernandez went through in the months preceding his fatal beating. Prosecutor Jon Hatami called Aguirre "pure evil" and argued that he deserved the death penalty even though it "doesn't even compare to what he did to Gabriel."
Defense attorney John Alan argued that Aguirre was considered to be "kind" and "compassionate" during his employment at the retirement facility, and that he had never committed a crime before meeting Pearl Fernandez.
Jury deliberation began on November 14, 2017, and a verdict was reached the next afternoon. Ultimately, the jury found him guilty of first degree murder and guilty of the circumstances of torture charges. On December 11, 2017 jury deliberation began for the sentencing phase. The next day the jury was deadlocked; however, on December 13 they decided to recommend the death penalty, which was accepted by Judge George G. Lomeli.
Controversy of governmental response
In the months preceding his death, Fernandez showed his injuries or reported abuse to a security guard, family members, and a teacher, which led to several calls to social services to no avail. After being hit with a metal belt, he asked his teacher, Jennifer Garcia, if it's "normal to bleed." In response, Garcia called social services, and was later called by social worker Stefanie Rodriguez informing her that she was assigned to the case. On another day, Fernandez came to class with chunks of hair missing and a lump on his lip. When questioned about it by Garcia, Fernandez said his mother had punched him in his mouth. After having a discussion with the principal, Garcia called Rodriguez back and informed her of the recent signs of abuse. Later when Fernandez reported to his teacher that he was shot in the face with a BB gun by his mother, she once again informed social services of the new sign of abuse. After Fernandez missed thirteen days of school, he returned and his teacher noticed his condition had worsened. She attempted to call Rodriguez, but her call was never returned. Fernandez's great-aunt Elizabeth Carranza and her husband called social services three times and talked to sheriffs twice regarding the welfare of Fernandez. Twenty-nine days before his death, a security guard, Arturo Miranda Martinez, at a Los Angeles County Welfare Office noticed extensive injuries on Fernandez's body which prompted him to call 9-1-1, risking his job to report the injuries to sheriffs. Overall, between 2003 and 2012, sixty complaints were filed against Pearl Fernandez and Aguirre to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. While social workers and the sheriff’s office did check on Fernandez and opened eight independent investigations, he was never removed from the household, ultimately leading to his death.Two social workers, Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement, and two supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, were fired and charged with child abuse and falsifying public records. The unprecedented charges held significant consequences, including up to eleven years in prison. However, these charges were ultimately dismissed by California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal for lack of probable cause. In January 2020, prosecutors attempted to get a re-hearing for the case, but eventually decided to drop the charges. Additionally, nine Sheriff's deputies were internally disciplined for not properly investigating the abuse allegations.