A man and his girlfriend conspire together to cruelly abuse and murder her eight-year-old son, Gabriel because he thought the eight-year-old was gay, said a prosecutor.
Jon Hatami, a prosecutor for Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, told in the opening statements on Monday that 32-year-old Isauro Aguirre, of Palmdale, committed a series of brutal acts against Gabriel Fernandez.
Aguirre was accused of splashing pepper spray to the boy, forcing him to eat his own feces and vomit, putting cigarettes out on his skin, beating him with a bat and shooting him with a BB gun alongside the boy's mother Pearl Fernandez.
Aguirre's lawyer defended that Aguirre denies the special circumstance of torture element to his charge while he admits murder.
"He is guilty of murder, but the special circumstance alleged, that he intended (to) kill Gabriel with the infliction of torture, is not true," said the lawyer. "Despite the horrific abuse, Isauro never intended for Gabriel to die."
Gabriel was continuously abused by his mother, Fernandez, 34, and Isauro Aguirre, now 37, over the course of eight months in 2013, according to prosecutors. Aguirre also forced Gabriel to dress up in girls' clothes before going to school and emphasizes that he didn't like Gabriel since he believed Gabriel to be gay.
Prosecutor Hatami said they eventually called 911 to cover up that they did but not "to help Gabriel".
James Cermak, a paramedic for LA County Fire Department commented there was an "unbelievable" amount of damage on the boy's body when he was found in the couple's apartment in Palmdale.
Four social workers are also being prosecuted because of his death.