Warning: Distressing Content
A new Netflix docuseries looks into the death of eight-year-old Gabriel Fernandez and the discrepancies surrounding his case as a victim of child abuse.
Gabriel was found at his family’s home in Palmdale, California on May 22, 2013, with severe injuries including a cracked skull, shattered ribs and severe burns. He was naked and had BB pellets buried in his body.
The eight-year-old tragically passed away two days later, and the new six-part series, The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, looks into the events leading up to and following his death.
Watch the trailer here:
The series documents the arrest of Gabriel’s mother, Pearl Fernandez, and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, who were both held responsible for Gabriel’s death.
It also looks into the role of the government systems that failed to protect Gabriel, with members of the social services being criticised for the lack of action taken to help the young boy despite multiple reports and warning signs he was being abused.
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez comes from documentarian Brian Knappenberger, who also directed the 2017 Netflix documentary Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press.
Speaking to People about Gabriel’s death, Knappenberger said:
I think Gabriel could been saved about a dozen different ways and that’s what’s so intense and so heartbreaking about his story.
Gabriel’s torture is believed to have started eight months prior to his death, when he moved in with his mother and Aguirre in 2012.
According to court records cited by the Los Angeles Times, the eight-year-old was doused with pepper spray, forced to eat his own vomit and locked in a cabinet with a sock stuffed in his mouth.
During Aguirre’s trail, prosecutors alleged the boy was forced to eat cat faeces and cat litter. Aguirre is also said to have struck Gabriel with various weapons such as a club, a small bat, a belt buckle and metal hanger.
It was alleged Aguirre abused Gabriel because he believed he was gay.
Knappenberger explained:
What we do know is that he called him gay when he was beating him.
And it’s one of the first things he told the first responders when the first responders entered the house and were trying to save Gabriel’s life. So take from that [what you] will, but it certainly played a role.
Gabriel was found in May 2013 after his mother called 911 to report her son was not breathing. She told sheriff’s deputies who arrived at the apartment that Gabriel had fallen and hit his head on a dresser, but his older brother later testified Fernandez began hitting Gabriel because he didn’t want to pick up his toys.
Gabriel’s mother ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, admitting it was intentional murder by torture, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Aguirre was sentenced to death in 2018 after being convicted of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of intentional murder by torture.
The case prompted calls for reforms to the Los Angeles County foster care system, which had been battling a backlog of child abuse investigations at the time of Gabriel’s death. In Antelope Valley, where Gabriel lived, some of the department’s least-experienced social workers were given the highest caseloads.
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez is set to arrive on Netflix on February 26.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 8am–10pm Monday to Friday, 9am–6pm weekends. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111.
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.