DIED IN HELL
Gabriel Fernandez tied up and gagged inside ‘torture box’ by mom and her partner before his murder, Netflix doc reveals
GABRIEL Fernandez was bound, gagged and made to sleep inside a tiny cabinet before he was murdered by his evil mom and her partner, a Netflix documentary reveals.
The eight-year-old was repeatedly beaten and tortured by mum Pearl and Isauro Aguirre because they thought he was gay, including being put inside cabinet they nicknamed the “the box”.
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In 2018 Fernandez was jailed for life and her boyfriend Aguirre sentenced to death for the 2013 murder of .
Gabriel's haunting story is being retold in new Netflix series The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez.
The youngster was given up at birth by Fernandez but found love from his great-uncle Michael Lemos Carranza and his partner David Martinez.
They were his primary carers from 2005 to 2009 when he was taken into the care of his grandparents Robert and Sandra Fernandez.
Gabriel was forcibly removed from his grandparents as Fernandez wanted her son back – reportedly so she could claim welfare from him.
In the subsequent trial of Fernandez and Aguirre, Gabriel's brave siblings testified against their mother and her partner - with both of them speaking off camera to protect their identity.
They described how he was often locked in a cabinet nicknamed "the box" with a sock shoved in his mouth and a bandanna over his face.
Older brother Ezequiel, who was 12 when Gabriel died, said his sibling was tied, gagged, beaten with a belt, shot with a BB gun and had his teeth knocked out with a bat.
He also said his brother was forced to eat cat litter and have cold baths while being pepper sprayed.
Fernandez and Aguirre would sometimes force Ezequiel to join in on his brother’s beatings.
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All the while their mother forced Ezequiel and sister Virginia to lie to social workers amid fears the same could happen to them one day.
Fernandez and Aguirre punished Gabriel for playing with dolls and would dress him in girls' dresses - all because they thought he was gay.
Gabriel was just 4ft 1in and weighed just four stone, while hulking 6ft 2in security guard Aguirre tipped the scales at 19 stone.
He was rushed into hospital on May 22, 2013, after his mother Pearl called paramedics and claimed he'd slipped and hit his head in the family bathroom.
The youngster was rushed to hospital but died two days later.
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Fernandez and Aguirre’s trial captured the world's attention, as the true and shocking extent of Gabriel's abuse and neglect was laid bare.
Four social workers were later sacked and eventually charged with child abuse and falsifying records about Gabriel’s case.
However, in January California’s second appeals court threw out the case, with judges finding the social workers couldn’t control the abusers and did not have custody or care of Gabriel.
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