A Los Angeles County judge has denied resentencing for Pearl Fernandez, the California mother convicted of torturing her 8-year-old son Gabriel to death. Fernandez, 42, claimed her 2018 guilty plea was coerced, but Judge George G. Lomeli rejected the petition on Monday. This marks the second time her request has been denied.
Pearl Fernandez of Palmdale received a life sentence without parole in 2018 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder with a special circumstance of intentional murder by torture. Her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to death. The pair abused Gabriel Fernandez over months in 2013, leading to his death from blunt force trauma and prolonged child abuse, as prosecutors described during the case and resentencing hearings. Fernandez filed her latest petition in February, alleging ineffective assistance from her state-appointed defense attorney and that she was coerced into the plea. She also claimed comprehension issues equivalent to a second-grade level and a misunderstanding that the plea would lead to an appeal, according to court filings reported by local outlets including KABC and City News Service. Her attorney cited California Senate Bill 1437, which allows resentencing in certain felony murder cases, but Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami argued the law does not apply. 'The torture and murder of Gabriel was never a case of felony murder or natural and probable consequences,' Hatami wrote in opposition. Judge George G. Lomeli denied the request following an emotional hearing where family members spoke. 'We are here again, reliving and reopening wounds,' said Emily Carranza, one of Gabriel's relatives, as reported by KNBC. Prosecutors detailed the abuse: Gabriel was beaten with a wooden club, broomstick, belt and baseball bat; tortured with Icy Hot, metal hanger, lighters and pepper spray; shot with a BB gun; and forced to eat cat feces, vomit and rotten food. He slept handcuffed in a wooden box for eight months and arrived at the hospital with a fractured skull, 12 broken ribs, BB pellets embedded in his body and severe wounds. Hatami expressed frustration that the family must relive the trauma, telling the Los Angeles Times he was 'mad and upset.' Gabriel's cousins Olivia Rubio and Emily Carranza said they seek closure, with Rubio noting, 'We do need closure... our voices need to get louder.' California law allows Fernandez to file another petition.
