What happened to Gabriel Fernandez’s brother and sister?
GABRIEL Fernandez died on May 24, 2013, after suffering years of abuse at the hands of his mother and stepfather.
On February 26, 2020, Netflix released an emotional documentary - The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez - chronicling his life and how he was failed by missed opportunities to save him. Here's what happened to his siblings...
What happened to Gabriel Fernandez's brother and sister?
Gabriel's brother and sister - Ezequiel and Virginia - have not made themselves public and have asked for their privacy to be respected.
According to the documentary, they have now found "safe harbour" and a stable home with a family member.
"You have to have that, to be able to resolve any of the rest of it," the psychotherapist said. "I hope that they will be able to recover... I think they can, but it will be a long process. I mean these are terrifying experiences, terrifying."
Gabriel's brother and sister said that their mother had made them lie to social workers, and Ezequiel said he was concerned "she was going to do the same things to me".
Both Ezequiel and Virginia testified at their mother's boyfriend Isauro Aguirre's murder trial.
What happened to Gabriel Fernandez?
For eight months, Gabriel was subjected to physical and mental abuse.
He was often called "gay"and punished for exhibiting perceived female traits like playing with dolls.
According to his siblings, in addition to being beaten on several occasions, he was often forced to eat cat litter, rotten spinach, and his own vomit.
He was also tied up and gagged inside a "torture box".
The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez
What happened to Gabriel Fernandez's mother and stepfather?
Prosecutors brought first-degree murder charges with a special circumstance of intentional murder by torture to Gabriel's mother Pearl Fernandez and her boyfriend Isauro Agguirre.
Agguire was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 2018.
He is on death row currently at the San Quentin State Prison.
His mother, Pearl, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder as part of a deal which would spare her the death penalty.
She is currently serving a life sentence at Chowchilla State Women's Prison.