This week, a judge denied the resentencing petition of Pearl Fernandez, the mother of Gabriel Fernandez, the 8-year-old boy who died in 2013 after being tortured by his mother and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre. They were both convicted in 2018 for Gabriel’s heinous murder.
Fernandez, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder during the trial, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, she subsequently filed for resentencing, citing a 2019 change to the state’s felony murder law regarding malice. This week, a judge considered the second resentencing petition Fernandez has filed and, like before, it was swiftly denied.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli denied both petitions, noting that Fernandez had agreed to waive her appellate rights upon submitting her guilty plea in 2018.
“[This] was the second time that she’s appealed for resentencing – because of the new laws that come into play, I believe she thinks that she’s entitled to be resentenced, [but] she admitted to murder [during] the first trial,” said Gabriel’s cousin Emily Carranza of Sylmar, who has remained a dedicated child and family advocate on behalf of his memory for over 13 years.
Carranza, who runs the Gabriel’s Justice Facebook page and more recently co-founded the Gabriel Fernandez Foundation, expressed both relief and appreciation for the judge’s decisions.
“He’s a fair judge. … He gives her the chance to appeal her case, he listens and then he reminds her of why it doesn’t apply to her,” said Carranza, who was at the LA courthouse for the recent hearing. “So she will spend the rest of her life in prison, with no chance of getting out.”
At least that’s her hope, she added, admitting that the process has been “mentally exhausting.”
“It’s a little discouraging – it’s overwhelming having to go back into that same courthouse where the trial was held,” said Carranza. “We were just there five years ago [for the first resentencing petition], and then we found ourselves back there again [this week] for the same thing. … She might try to appeal again in the next five or six years; we just don’t know. It’s kind of unsettling, because what will happen when the current judge retires and she does get a new judge?”
Despite the emotional difficulty, Carranza said she will keep pursuing justice for Gabriel.
“As long as we’re alive, we’re going to still continue to fight and be a voice for Gabriel,” said Carranza regarding herself, Gabriel’s other cousin and staunch supporter Olivia Rubio and numerous other advocates, including followers on Gabriel’s Justice and foundation supporters.
“We have a warrior family that is always going to show up with us in court and support us,” she continued. “One day, when Olivia and I can no longer do that, a warrior family will step in to be Gabriel’s voice, because, as laws change – and I know they have that Elderly Parole Program [in California] – I don’t think [they] would apply to her, but I’m pretty sure she would try again.”
For most of his life, Gabriel lived with his grandparents and uncle in Pacoima and Mission Hills, until his mother, who was living in Palmdale, picked him up for a visit and refused to return him.
According to court records, Gabriel was regularly beaten, locked in a cupboard, starved and forced to eat cat litter, cat feces and his own vomit. Fernandez called 911 on May 22, 2013, to report that Gabriel wasn’t breathing. When the paramedics arrived, they found him with a cracked skull, three broken ribs and with BB pellets embedded across his body.
Gabriel died in the hospital two days later.
Aguirre, who is not Gabriel’s biological father, is on death row. Fernandez avoided a possible death sentence by pleading guilty; she admitted to a special circumstance involving torture.
Carranza said Fernandez now claims that when she pleaded guilty during the trial, “she wasn’t really comprehending what she was signing” and that she was coerced into signing the plea deal.
“But if you look on TikTok, she’s being interviewed [from prison] by people who have these podcasts, and she seems perfectly fine with understanding everything,” said Carranza, noting that Fernandez often discusses herself, but never expresses remorse, guilt or grief regarding Gabriel.
“In one of the interviews, she was asked … ‘What do you tell new inmates coming in?’ She said, ‘I try to teach them that [they] don’t have to stay quiet and take a beating; [they] can report it,’” recounted Carranza, noting that Fernandez claims she has suffered physical abuse in prison. “She acts like she’s the victim and she’s teaching new inmates to defend themselves and to report any abuse, but when Gabriel did that [report his abuse to his teacher], she beat him, she shot him, she burned him, so where was that protection when Gabriel needed it? She’s just a manipulator.”
For information about the Gabriel Fernandez Foundation, go to: www.thegabrielfernandezfoundation.org.