Mother Of Murdered 8-Year-Old Boy She Suspected Was Gay Pleads Guilty, Receives Life Sentence

8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez

The mother of an 8-year-old Palmdale boy pleaded guilty to the 2013 death of her son who died after suffering brutal beatings and starvation.

According to prosecutors, the mother and her boyfriend tortured Gabriel Fernandez because they suspected he was gay.

Via The LA Times:

In a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez admitted that the 2013 killing of her son Gabriel was intentional and involved the infliction of torture.

Her guilty plea avoided a trial, where prosecutors were expected to seek the death penalty. Fernandez's defense lawyers had opposed capital punishment, arguing that her low IQ made her ineligible for death row. A judge is scheduled to sentence her June 7 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Shackled at the waist and wearing a jail-issued smock, Fernandez, 34, spoke in a faint, muted voice on Thursday as she accepted the conditions of the plea agreement.

"You will never be paroled. You will never be released from prison," Deputy Dist. Atty. Jon Hatami told her. "Do you understand and agree to this?"

"Yes," said Fernandez as her lawyer, Deputy Alternate Public Defender Julia Dixon, comforted her.

On May 22, 2013, young Gabriel was found by paramedics in an unconscious state. He had a cracked skull, broken ribs, his skin was burned and bruised, he was missing teeth and BB pellets were found in his groin. He died two days later.

The investigation into Gabriel's death revealed massive lapses by L.A. county social workers who visited the boy's home six times but never took action despite physical evidence of torture.

Fernandez and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, both brutalized young Gabriel for months leading up to his death. The 8-year-old was forced to sleep in a cabinet bound and gagged, eat his own vomit and cat feces, and was beaten with a belt over and over.

Aguirre was convicted of first-degree murder on Nov. 1. The jury recommended the death penalty. Aguirre will be sentenced on March 8.

More on my reporting of the tragic events surrounding Gabriel's death here.