Celebration of life: 16th birthday held for Palmdale boy who was tortured, killed in 2013
PALMDALE, Calif. - A celebration of life was held Saturday for Gabriel Fernandez. He was the little 8-year-old Palmdale boy that died at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend back in 2013.
It would have been his 16th birthday on Saturday, February 20.
RELATED: Case dismissed against social workers charged in death of Gabriel Fernandez
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva attended the event and posted it to social media, "Tortured by his own mother and her boyfriend for several years, 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez’s little body couldn’t take it anymore and in 2013 he died of his injuries. Today Gabriel would’ve turned 16-years-old," he said.
The family of Gabriel Fernandez and the district attorney who prosecuted his mother and her boyfriend also attended.
RELATED:
• Social workers charged in Palmdale torture death of 8-year-old
• Closing arguments wrap up in trial of Palmdale man charged in 8-year-old boy's death
• Mother of tortured Palmdale boy pleads guilty to murder
• Deliberations continue in penalty phase of Palmdale child torture death case
• Man sentenced to death, woman to life in prison for boy's torture-murder
Fernandez was tortured and killed in 2013 by his mother, Pearl Fernandez and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre. Both were convicted of his murder in 2018.
FOX 11's Christina Gonzalez contributed to this report
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