The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez on Netflix explores the shocking and heartbreaking true story of eight-year-old Gabriel, who was the victim of child abuse.
The six-part series is not an easy viewing, which follows what happened to Gabriel, the subsequent criminal trial and explores the failings of the Los Angeles Child Protection Services.
Pearl Hernandez and her partner Isauro Aguirre were found guilty of murdering Gabriel Fernandez, who died on May 24, 2013.
Pearl Hernandez and her partner Isauro Aguirre were found guilty of murdering Gabriel Fernandez, who died on May 24, 2013.
Arnold Contreras
Arnold Contreras is Gabriel Fernandez’s biologically father.
He is also the father of Gabriel’s older siblings, Ezequiel and Virginia.
During the time his son was being abused by Pearl and Isauro, Arnold was behind bars for robbery and possession.
Arnold learnt from the prison chaplain that his son had been taken off life support in May 2013.
In The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, prosecutor Jon Hatami spoke highly of Gabriel’s father.
He also expressed on his behalf how heartbroken he was over Gabriel’s death and how he lived with incredible guilt.
Jon said: “I can tell you that he loved Gabriel and he still loves him.
“I can tell you that he is heartbroken. I can tell you that he feels it’s his fault and if he was out of custody, he would have saved Gabriel.”
After Pearl and Isauro were sentenced, John and Arnold broke down in tears in the courtroom in what was an emotional viewing.
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Arnold returned to prison after being convicted on two separate charges in 2018 and 2019.
Oxygen.com reported that Contreras was convicted in May 2018 on a first charge of acquiring and retaining personal identification information. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.
In January 2019, he was convicted on a second charge and given a one-year and four-month sentence.
He was eligible for parole in June 2019 and it is currently unknown if he has been released.
When Gabriel was born, he was put in the care of his great uncle, Michael Lemos Carranza, the uncle of Gabriel mother’s Pearl.
Michael alongside his partner David Martinez raised Gabriel four years.
In 2009, when he was four-years-old, Gabriel moved to live with his grandparents after his grandfather, Robert Fernandez did not agree with a same-sex couple raising a child.
Then in 2012 at age eight, he was placed in the care of his mother Pearl and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre.
During the eight months of living with Pearl and Isauro, Gabriel suffered extreme abuse.
When emergency services were called to his home in May 2013, he was found with a fractured skull, broken ribs and BB gun bullets in his skin, to name a few of his horrific injuries. He sadly died on May 24, 2013.
Pearl Hernandez
At the time of Gabriel’s death, she had been dating Isauro for approximately two years.
Both Pearl and Isauro were found guilty of first-degree murder with an additional special circumstance of intentional murder by torture.
They were both sentenced in early 2018. As seen in the documentary, presiding Superior Court Judge George G Lomeli at their sentencing hearing told the pair: “I hope you think about the pain you caused this child and that it tortures you.”
Pearl is currently serving her life sentence at Chowchilla State Women’ Prison and Isauro is on death row at the San Quentin Jail, both situated in California.
She was able to avoid the death penalty after taking a plea deal, which saw her plead guilty to first-degree murder and receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Pearl’s defence attorney had argued that due to her low IQ, the death penalty would be “inappropriate.”
Deborah S Miora, a clinical and forensic neuropsychologist who evaluated Fernandez for the defence, concluded that she has an intellectual disability that makes her “virtually unable to use thought to guide her behaviour and temper her emotional reactions.”
Miora’s report also drew upon Pearl’s troubled childhood and her experience of abuse and neglect from a young age.
➤ Gabriel Fernandez | Find related content here
➤ Gabriel Fernandez | Find related content here
As seen in the documentary, at the sentencing hearing, Pearl told the court “I want to say I’m sorry to my family for what I did…. I wish Gabriel was alive.
“Every day I wish that I’d made better choices. I’m sorry to my children, and I want them to know that I love them.”
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Isauro is one of 737 inmates on death row at San Quentin prison, the largest death row population in the western world.
However, since 1976, only 13 executions have been carried out, with the last taking place in 2006 so Isauro’s execution is unlikely to take place anytime soon.
Source: express.co.uk, Molli Mitchell, March 6, 2020
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde