A Los Angeles woman has pleaded guilty
to torturing her 8-year-old son to death because she thought he might
be gay.
According to The
Los Angeles Times, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez pleaded guilty
Thursday to first-degree murder.
In November, a jury found Isauro
Aguirre, Fernandez's boyfriend, guilty of first-degree murder in the
death of Gabriel Fernandez. Aguirre, who is scheduled to be
sentenced on March 8, faces the death penalty.
On May 22, 2013, Pearl Fernandez, 34,
called 911 to report that Gabriel 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 in a hospital.
Prosecutor Jon Hatami said during
Aguirre's trial that text messages between Aguirre and Fernandez
prove that they conspired to torture and kill Gabriel. He also
claimed that the couple “called 911 to cover up what they did.”
During Aguirre's trial, Hatami told jurors that Aguirre hated Gabriel
because he suspected the boy was gay.
After a brief court proceeding in which
Hatami told Fernandez that pleading guilty means she will “never”
be released from prison, Gabriel's cousin, Emily Carranza, said that
she was relieved.
“It brings relief,” Carranza said.
“I know she's never doing to be out, and I know she's never going
to hurt another child.”