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Accused child killers plead not guilty

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Pearl Fernandez (center) and her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre (right) are accused of inflicting multiple injuries upon 8-year-old Gabriel (left), including fracturing his skull, breaking several ribs and burning him all over his body. Gabriel was pronounced dead on May 24, 2013.
Pearl Fernandez (center) and her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre (right) are accused of inflicting multiple injuries upon 8-year-old Gabriel (left), including fracturing his skull, breaking several ribs and burning him all over his body. Gabriel was pronounced dead on May 24, 2013.

PALMDALE – After more than a year of delays, the case against the Palmdale couple charged with torturing and killing 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez finally appears to be moving forward. Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre pleaded not guilty today [August 6] to murder with the special circumstance of torture. Additionally, the case has moved from the Antelope Valley courthouse to the Foltz Criminal Justice Center, according to a press release from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. Read it below:

A criminal Grand Jury has indicted a Palmdale mother and her boyfriend with one count of capital murder in the fatal 2013 beating of the woman’s 8-year-old son, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 30, and Isauro Aguirre, 34, pleaded not guilty today [Aug. 6] to one count each of murder with the special circumstance of torture of Gabriel Fernandez. Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen ordered the pair held without bail.

Both defendants return to court on Aug. 14 for pretrial in Department 107 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Prosecutors argued the case should return to the Antelope Valley for trial, but their motion was denied.

The alleged abuse happened inside an apartment in the 200 Block of East Avenue Q-10.
The alleged abuse happened inside an apartment in the 200 Block of East Avenue Q-10.

Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami, who is prosecuting the case, said prosecutors took the case to the Grand Jury in July to avoid continued delays in setting a preliminary hearing date. The indictment was returned July 28.

On May 22, 2013, Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel responded to a call about a boy not breathing in the 200 block of East Avenue Q-10. He was declared dead on May 24, 2013.

Hatami said Fernandez and Aguirre inflicted multiple injuries upon the child, including fracturing his skull, breaking several ribs and burning him over his body.

The special circumstance murder makes this a potential death penalty case. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek a death sentence or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau is investigating the case.

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Previous related stories:

Arraignment delayed again for accused child killers

 Four social workers fired in death of Gabriel

Arraignment postponed for accused child killers

Couple charged with capital murder in death of Palmdale boy

Justice for Gabriel protest, teacher speaks out

Palmdale boy dies after abuse, mother and boyfriend arrested

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

30 comments for "Accused child killers plead not guilty"

  1. I think the death penalty is to great for these two people , they shoukld be made to live with their guilt . Gabriel didnt know when or how he ws going to die , he didnt get to ask why he had to die just for being borned are alive ,
    they both deserve to receive all prison torture possible , live in terror the rest of ther lives make their life torture ,
    what gall they have to say their not guilty under any circumstances , their guilty they should never be forgiven ,,

    • Sessie, I definitely agree with you…Both should live entire life behind bars..It will give them something to think about..Best believe both will.catch HELL when they arrive at the big house and it won’t be a pleasant welcome..May they enjoy!!!

  2. What check the call on the report 22 died 24..was he alive in the hospital for that day .who what when where who made the call what caused this injury’s hand belt when meaning how old are the marks .. So time in life u don’t realize what your doing to its to let i belive in my heart she did want this to happen to her child so let her tell her side dont let the media make her.

  5. This.message is for KAT…You must be on METH/CRACK…Your recent post..”NOT GUILTY”…What planet are you from?… This young boy was brutally beaten to DEATH by his birth mother and bf…had his whole life ahead of him and it was taken away…Gabriel, didn’t deserve to die in the manner he did…RIP…You now walk the heavens with God Almighty.. No more TROUBLES of this WORLD 

      • M. This young boy was brutally beaten to DEATH by his birth mother and bf…had his whole life ahead of him and it was taken away…Gabriel, didn’t deserve to die in the manner he did…RIP…You now walk the heavens with God Almighty.. No more TROUBLES of this WORLD 

      • Hi Nancy P. My bad,. I only focused on “NOT GUILTY”…I failed to read further down…I will apologize to Kat..Deleted first paragraph..Everything else remains..

  7. Not guilty ???

    -_-

    The only innocent one here is that poor little boy.
    Now his own mother won’t even come clean?

    Didn’t they say she got so beat In prison she almost died??

    Does she really want to get another beating??

    • Chiki,
      Uh, how do I say this, well, you do realize that God judges when we die? See, right now we are sentient beings and we have chosen to separate murderers from the non-murderers. To do that we have a trial where we as peers weigh evidence and judge innocence and guilt. Also, I am judging that you probably didn’t understand any of what I just wrote.

      • hey Danny…God didnt do this… Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre did…think about it…

        • God was too busy trying to keep gay marriage from happening and making sure Catholic missionaries don’t give out condoms in Africa to pay attention to this.

        • Sure he did he did nothing to prevent it…. Didn’t he make those scum bags that did it. You Jesus people are so blind, excuses for and some bs reasoning. Faith ya right blind to the truth you sure are.

          But you believe what you want

  9. I hope they get the same sentence that they gave this poor innocent angel! Scum like that dont deserve second chances in life!

  10. I wonder if any criminal charges were ever brought against the social workers who were responsible for that boys safety. They put him in danger its not like it was this mother’s first offense against that little boy. The social worker(s) need to be standing trial with them.

    • The Social Workers & Supervisors have all been fired. It was the entire Palmdale DCFS office that neglected the multiple phone calls etc… Someone should have contacted the RA Laura Sulzberger. She is one of the administrators responsible for Palmdale & Lancaster DCFS offices..

      It is sad that Social Workers are getting a bad reputation.
      LA County Social Workers are definitely overworked. A majority of them have 50+ cases (meaning responsible for 50+ Children). Social Workers are required to visit with each child monthly (reminding you some months have only 30days) plus they have family visitations and tons of lengthy reports to write. Its sad that they are so busy and there are children who really need help and need to be saved.

      • Social workers should be like nurses… depending on the condition of the patient “case” they are assigned 4-1 or one on one… if social workers have 50 children to one when the case is more serious the numbers of children should be lowered or an assistant assigned to help out….

      • My message is from Wichita, KS. I agreed with your comments regarding 4 Employees of the LA County Social Work from the Department of the Children Protection are being unprofessional and misconduct because they typically are interesting in more higher incomes from most million of California Taxpayers than boring to act, work and alert the thousands of cases with children. That’s why 4 Social Workers are being crooks at all. Thanks.

  11. There is a similar case right now about this little boy who is in custody with the abusive mother. The mother has several cases open from Child Services and the only thing they tell the father is ” We will talk to her” and “We can’t remove him” The mother has been abusing him since he was an infant, putting rags over his face, slapping him in the face, and abandoned him for a few years. Later she fought to get him because she needed money and the courts gave her custody. The father has visitation rights but she won’t allowed the little boy to see his father. Father has prove but there is nothing he can do. He fears getting a call that his son is dead.

  13. I hope these scumbags get the worst punishment possible, rape and murdered in jail. All this palmdale trash needs to be killed off they are ruining our valley.

  14. Death is what needs to happen, that way we tax payers are not footing the bill for these losers for the rest of their lives. They should get what they gave to that poor little boy.