'The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez' include not just the murder trial of Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre, but the trials of four social workers who failed to prevent the child's death.
, was so horrific that prosecutors thought more than one party had to face charges for what happened to him.
In 2017, social workers Stefanie Rodriguez, Patricia Clement, and supervisors Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were charged with child abuse and falsifying public records. Despite multiple visits to the home of Pearl Fernandez and Isauro Aguirre, and after multiple parties shared their concerns about Gabriel's wellbeing to child services, social workers left Gabriel in the custody of the mother found responsible for the murder.
All four social workers were fired from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and faced prison time of up to 10 years. In January 2020, however, a California appeals court dismissed all charges against the four social workers, with a three-justice panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal issuing an opinion telling the lower court to drop the case.Justice Francis Rothschild wrote,"We conclude that the petitioners never had the requisite duty to control the abusers and did not have care or custody of Gabriel for purposes of Penal Code section 273a, subdivision .
"There is, therefore, no probable cause to hold them on charges of violating those laws and the trial court should have granted the motions to dismiss."
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