Woman, boyfriend sentenced in 8-year-old's torture killing
LOS ANGELES, California -- A mother and her boyfriend were sentenced Thursday in the killing of her 8-year-old son, who was beaten and tortured until his death.
Isauro Aguirre, 37, was sentenced to death. Pearl Fernandez, 34, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The two were convicted of the 2013 fatal beating of Fernandez's son, Gabriel.
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Last December, a jury recommended Aguirre be sentenced to death after convicting him of first-degree murder and the special circumstance allegation of murder involving torture.
Fernandez pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February. She admitted to the torture special circumstance allegation in exchange for a life prison term without the possibility of parole. She had been facing a possible death sentence if the case against her had gone to trial and if she had been convicted as charged.
Gabriel was routinely beaten, shot with a BB gun, fed cat feces and forced to sleep while gagged and bound inside a small cabinet, witnesses and prosecutors said. He died in May 2013.
The judge is expected to allow family and friends to read victim-impact statements before the two are sentenced.
City News Service contributed to this report.
