Isauro Aguirre, the Murderer of Gabriel Fernandez, Is Still on Death Row
Updated Feb. 10 2021, 11:41 a.m. ET
Isauro Aguirre was sentenced to death on June 13, 2018, for the murder of Gabriel Fernandez. The 39-year-old Palmdale native was admitted to the San Quentin State Prison on the same day. His death date is yet to be announced.
The six-episode-long Netflix miniseries titled The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez sheds new light on the staggering atrocity, charting how he and his partner, Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, systematically tortured the 8-year-old boy before beating him to death.
Isauro Aguirre's death date hasn't been announced yet.
Aguirre is currently held at the San Quentin State Prison, a facility housing 700 death row inmates.
Some of these criminals were admitted in the 1970s, ABC7 reports. The number of executions taking place per year has radically decreased since 1983, the year convicted murderer Michael Angelo Morales appealed to the authorities on ground of the inhuman nature of the procedure.
The last criminal to be put to death was Clarence Ray Allen, who was administered a lethal injection on Jan. 17, 2006, ABC7 notes. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will not permit executions to be carried out until a new decision concerning the nature of these procedures is arrived at. Aquirre's fate is in the hands of the relevant authorities.
Aguirre and Fernandez committed one of the most abhorrent crimes to take place in recent history.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Aguirre and his partner, Fernandez, turned against the 8-year-old Gabriel after noticing the first signs indicating that he might be gay.
The couple ordered the elementary schooler to sleep in the narrow confines of a kitchen cabinet, forced him to eat cat feces and his own vomit, and beat him until his teeth fell out.
"No human with a heart and soul could do that to an innocent little boy," said Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami during Aguirre's court trial.
While Fernandez is thought to be the criminal responsible for the majority of the heinous crimes, Aguirre played a significant part as well.
"He was the person who, I believe, Pearl Fernandez had do most of her dirty deeds," Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office prosecutor Scott Yang stated during the trial.
"[...] the muscle behind the relationship" the prosecutor described Aguirre's role.
Some of Aguirre's former co-workers remember him as a pleasant man.
Some have taken it to defend the abhorrent criminal. Aguirre's former supervisor, Susan Weisbarth, claimed that he was an enthusiastic caregiver who went out of his way to help the inhabitants of the elderly home. According to Oxygen, she trusted his co-worker.
"He was quiet, he was just a down to earth nice person, always willing to help," Susan stated during the trial.
"The residents always wanted him to take care of them. I mean, he was like a teddy bear, the residents adored him [...] So did the staff," she added.
Aguirre will be held at the San Quentin State Prison until a further decision is made.
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez is now available on Netflix.