Gabriel Fernandez was an 8-year old boy who died at the hands of his mother, Pearl Fernandez, and her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre.
Gabriel had been shuffling between the homes of relatives before settling in his mother’s house, where she was occupying her boyfriend and two other siblings in Palmdale, California. Gabriel was a seemingly happy and helpful child, while living with his uncle and grandparents for a short period of time prior to moving in with his mother, but that was soon to change.
Pearl Fernandez reportedly only took in Gabriel for welfare benefits despite concerns from her family that she was neglectful toward her other children, and that became apparent after his death.
After joining his mothers residence, Gabriel joined a new school, where his new teacher Jennifer Garcia began to notice signs that pointed to abuse. Gabriel asked Garcia if it was “normal for moms to hit their kids,” and if it was “normal to use a belt”. He also asked her if it was normal to bleed.
Jennifer Garcia took it upon herself to report the exhange between her and Gabriel to the Los Angeles County child abuse hotline. The call landed in the hands of Stefanie Rodriguez, a social worker. Nothing ever came of the case, as Rodriguez never adequately made the inquiries needed to determine the condition of Gabriel’s home life.
Despite home investigations as well, the social workers never found signs of abuse strong enough to have Gabriel removed from the house.
With Gabriel still trapped inside what some call a ‘hell house,’ Gabriel continued to go to school with worsened injuries such as patches of hair missing, scabs on his scalp, injured lips, and bruises all over his face after his mother shot him in the face with a BB gun. After his case went to trial, Gabriel’s siblings said he was forced to eat cat litter and was kept locked in a cabinet in his mother’s room.
On May 22, 2013, Pearl Fernandez made a call to 911 after Gabriel’s breathing stopped. When paramedics arrived, they had found Gabriel with broken ribs, a cracked skull, and BB pellets stuck in his body. He was declared brain-dead upon his arrival at the hospital.
Gabriel Fernandez died on May 24, 2013.
Netflix released a documentary about his case, titled The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, where millions were able to see the humiliating and disgusting acts committed against the young boy. Not only were people upset with his parents, but with the justice system that seemingly failed him. Although it is the government agencies that exist in order to prevent cases like Gabriel’s, his case managed to fall through the cracks. The four caseworkers assigned to Gabriel’s situation later faced criminal charges after being fired. Gabriel’s intial case worker, along with another- Patricia Clement, and their supervisors, Gregory Merritt and Kevin Bom were charged with felony accounts of child abuse and falsifying public records. Some refuse to blame them, as they believe the mistakes were made due to the system they were operating in. Because of Gabriel’s awful death, “a new era of reform” began at the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services including the implementation of several new policies to ensure child safety. Since 2013, 3,000 new social workers have been hired to prevent case overload.
Aguirre was sentenced to death in 2018 after being convicted for first-degree murder with the special circumstances of intentional murder by torture. Pearl Fernandez pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and recieved a life sentence in prison without parole.
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