Murder of Gabriel Fernandez

Murder of Gabriel Fernandez
Victim Gabriel Fernandez
Location	Palmdale, California, U.S.
Date	May 22, 2013 (2013-05-22) (fatal beating) May 24, 2013 (2013-05-24) (death)
Attack type	Child murder, child abuse
Victim	Gabriel Daniel Fernandez, aged 8
Perpetrators	Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre
Motive	Inconclusive
Verdict	Fernandez: Pleaded guilty Aguirre: Guilty at trial
Convictions	First-degree murder with special circumstances of torture
Sentence	Fernandez: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole Aguirre: Death (de jure)
Charges	Kevin Bom, Patricia Clement, Gregory Merritt, Stefanie Rodriguez: Child abuse, falsifying public records (dismissed)

On May 24, 2013, Gabriel Fernandez, an eight-year-old boy from Palmdale, California, who had been abused and tortured over a period of months, died due to a beating from his mother, Pearl Fernandez, and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, two days earlier. Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre were charged and convicted of first-degree murder with special circumstances of torture. According to prosecutors, Aguirre allegedly abused Gabriel due to his perceived homosexuality.^[1] Pearl was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and 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 concerns over the effectiveness and efficiency of social services in Los Angeles County, and led to four social workers being criminally charged in Los Angeles Superior Court. All charges were later dropped.