A Los Angeles mother and her boyfriend
allegedly beat to death her 8-year-old son whom they called gay.
According to The
Los Angeles Times, Pearl Fernandez, 30, and her boyfriend,
Isauro Aguirre, 34, have pleaded not guilty to charges of capital
murder and a special circumstance of torture.
On May 22, 2013, Fernandez called 911
to report that her son, Gabriel Fernandez, was not breathing.
Authorities found the boy naked in a bedroom, his skull cracked,
three ribs broken and BB pellets embedded in his lung and groin. He
died from his injuries two days later.
James Cermak, a Los Angeles County Fire
Department paramedic, testified that “it was just like every inch
of” Gabriel's body had been abused.
Deputy District Attorney Jonathan
Hatami told a grand jury considering the case that Gabriel was
tortured for eight straight months.
According to testimony from two of his
siblings, Gabriel was forced to eat cat feces, rotten spinach and his
own vomit. Fernandez and Aguirre, they said, called Gabriel gay and
he was punished for playing with dolls.
Fernandez and Aguirre are in jail
awaiting trial.
(Related: Mother
convicted of killing 4-year-old son she labeled gay sentenced to 25
years.)