Couple will spend life in prison for torture, murder of 8-year-old they called gay

LOS ANGELES — The mother of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez and her then-boyfriend will plead guilty to murder and torture charges in the boy’s death, sparing them the death penalty.
KNBC-TV reports that Pearl Fernandez and then-boyfriend Isauro Aguirre will receive life in prison without parole in exchange for their guilty pleas to first degree murder and torture with special circumstances.
KTLA Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre.

 Both waived their right to appeal and will spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
Court documents made public in August revealed that Gabriel was doused with pepper spray, forced to eat his own vomit and locked in a cabinet with a sock stuffed in his mouth to muffle his screams.
Testimony also indicated that Gabriel was beat with bats, a club which knocked out his teeth, was shot with a BB gun, and was whipped with the metal part of a belt over eight months.
His siblings said Gabriel was often called gay, punished because he played with dolls and was forced to wear girls’ clothes to school.
The Palmdale, Calif., boy died in May 2013, days after he was hospitalized with injuries including a cracked skull, broken ribs and burns.
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