Gabriel Fernandez was often made to sleep in a 'torture box' with a sock stuffed in his mouth and hands tied
Netflix's docuseries 'The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez' contains many horrific reveals about the abuse Gabriel Fernandez suffered at the hands of his primary guardians, Pearl Fernandez and her partner Isuaro Aguirre. One of those reveals regards a "torture box," which they put him inside before his murder.
Gabriel was gagged, bound, and forced to sleep inside what was known as "the box" because Pearl and her partner believe Gabriel was gay. According to testimony given by his siblings, as seen in the documentary, Gabriel was forced to hold a sock in his mouth, was bound with a bandana, and repeatedly beaten before being put inside the box. The couple punished Gabriel for playing with dolls, as well as forced him to wear dresses, all because they feared Gabriel was gay.
Gabriel had been abandoned by his mother at birth and given up for adoption. In 2009, Pearl forcibly removed him from his adoptive parents, putting him back under her care, allegedly to receive welfare payments for the child. The beatings, punishments and torture took their toll, as Gabriel was rushed to the hospital on May 23, 2013, where he died two days later.
Aside from the torture box, in the days leading up to his death, Gabriel had been tied, gagged, beaten with a belt, shot with a BB gun and even had his teeth knocked out with a bat. He was forced to eat several indigestible things. Gabriel had tried to tell other adults about his circumstances, including his teacher, but when cops were sent to his house to check up on him, they accused the child of lying and did not believe he was being harmed.
In 2018, Pearl was jailed for life and her partner Aguirre was sentenced to death for their roles in Gabriel's murder, whose story has been retold in the Netflix documentary.