Four social workers have been charged in connection with the torture death of Gabriel Fernandez, the 8-year-old Palmdale boy who died in 2013 after he was allegedly beaten by his mother and her boyfriend, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement, along with their respective supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, have each been charged with one felony count of child abuse and one felony count of falsifying public records, prosecutors said in a news release.
The arrest warrant was filed on March 28, the release stated.
Gabriel died on May 24, 2013, after being doused in pepper spray, forced to eat cat feces and his own vomit, and locked in a cabinet with a sock stuffed in his mouth, according tocourt records obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
He sustained multiple injuries, including a fractured skull, broken ribs and burns over his body, the release stated. Court records indicated that BB pellets were found embedded in his lung and groin.
“It was just like every inch of this child had been abused,” L.A. County Fire Department paramedic James Cermak said when he testified in court, according to the Times.
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