Tag: LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Defendant Tortured Gabriel Fernandez to Death Because He Thought Child Was Gay, Prosecutor Alleges
A man who is accused of torturing his girlfriend’s 8-year-old son to death killed the child because he thought the boy was gay, a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor said during opening statements Monday.
Isauro Aguirre’s defense attorney said his client admits to causing the injuries on Gabriel Fernandez’s body, but that it only happened because Aguirre exploded in rage after Gabriel told his mom to leave her boyfriend.
Aguirre, 32, is charged with murder with a special circumstance of torture.
Prosecutor Jon Hatami detailed the acts allegedly committed by the Aguirre and the boy’s mother, Pearl Fernandez, who also faces trial.
Hatami explained that the Palmdale couple beat Gabriel, bit him, burned him with cigarettes, whipped him, shot him with a B.B. gun, starved him, fed him cat litter, and kept him gagged and bound in this cubby until he was found on May 22, 2013. The couple called first responders to treat Gabriel, but that was only in an attempt to mislead, the prosecutor said.
“They didn’t call 911 to help Gabriel. They called 911 to cover up what they did,” Hatami said. “The defendant lied on the 911 call.”
The boy was hospitalized and died two days later. During his opening statements, Hatami showed the jury photos of the boy after he had been beaten.
The prosecutor said that Aguirre made Gabriel dress up in girls’ clothes and go to school. He added that Aguirre just didn’t like Gabriel and thought the boy was gay, and that was his motivation for his treatment of the child.
“Gabriel’s last vision was that man over there standing over Gabriel, beating him to death,” Hatami said.
Six-foot-2-inch Aguirre weighed 270 pounds at the time of the death, the prosecutor said, comparing his size to that of Gabriel, who was 59 pounds and 4 feet 1 inch tall.
“The evidence will show that the defendant is nothing more than a bully,” Hatami said. “He was a security guard who intentionally tortured and abused a helpless and innocent little boy.”
Defense attorney John Allan said that Aguirre had a hard time handling stressful and chaotic situations.
“He is guilty of murder, but the special circumstance alleged, that he intended kill Gabriel with the infliction of torture, is not true,” Allan said.
“Despite the horrific abuse, Isauro never intended for Gabriel to die,” he said.
Hatami showed the jury text messages between Aguirre and the boy’s mother and said they prove the couple conspired together to torture and kill Gabriel. The texts also show that the couple tried to conceal their actions against the boy in order to prevent anyone knowing that they were harming him, according to Hatami.
Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic James Cermak testified Monday said he couldn’t believe what he saw when he responded to the 911 call of Gabriel in cardiac arrest at the couple’s Palmdale apartment.
“It was just unbelievable amount of trauma on his body,” Cermak said.
The trial against Aguirre is expected to last about eight weeks, and the boy’s mother will be tried separately.
Four Los Angeles County social workers who were assigned to Gabriel’s case also face charges in connection with the death.
via: http://ktla.com/2017/10/16/attorneys-make-opening-statements-in-gabriel-fernandez-torture-case/
Woman Shares Details of L.A. Assault During Date With Man She Met on Instagram
A Los Angeles-area woman who was assaulted during a date with a man she met on Instagram last summer has shared her terrifying tale, hoping it will be a lesson to others.
India Ali, 32, says she met James Baker, 27, through social media and eventually felt comfortable enough to set up a date with him last July.
“He didn’t really look like a creep from his pictures. He looked like he had it going on,” Ali said.
The two decided to go out for a night on the town. Baker posted several videos on Instagram of the two out drinking at a restaurant and enjoying themselves.
Ali said she doesn’t remember leaving the restaurant with Baker or their ride back to the area around Los Angeles International Airport, but Baker posted videos of those events as well.
The two ended up in Baker’s hotel room at the Westin hotel near LAX. When Ali woke up the next morning, something was wrong.
“It was horrible. I woke up. I lifted my head up. I was lying in a puddle of throw up. So I look around and I see blood everywhere and my clothes everywhere,” Ali said.
Ali then saw her reflection in a mirror and could see how badly she had been beaten.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe that happened. What if they come back and kill me?” Ali thought.
She realized her cellphone and car keys were gone, so she used the hotel phone to call 911. A recording of the call provided to KTLA included the following interaction:
911 operator: “So they just beat you up?”
Ali: “There’s blood all over the room.”
911 operator: “Where are you hurt, ma’am?”
Ali: “I’m hurt in my face.”
Ali was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where doctors determined she had suffered significant head injuries.
“She had been punched in the head so badly that it had caused a swelling in the brain. The brain, when it expands, has nowhere to go so it forces down – and that’s what triggers the vomit action. It pressures the fourth vertebrae,” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney David Berger said.
Police used the Find My iPhone app to look for Ali’s cellphone. Investigators located the phone — and Baker — a few miles away, in the victim’s car at the Courtyard Los Angeles LAX in El Segundo. He was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division on July 21, inmate records show.
Surveillance video from the Westin showed Baker leaving the hotel in Ali’s car at about 2 a.m.
Investigators later found Baker had prior out-of-state convictions and was on bail for allegedly using fake credit cards, Berger said.
At the Airport Courthouse on April 14, Baker was found guilty of felony assault, auto theft and use of forged credit cards. He is being held at the downtown L.A. Men’s Central Jail, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for June 5.
Ali, meanwhile, is hoping her story will remind others to be cautious about who they meet online.
“I wouldn’t want anybody to go and meet up with anybody that they don’t know. Please don’t ever do that,” Ali said. “You have to value your life.”
Pasadena Man Sentenced to 77 Years to Life in Prison for Killing Sister After She Texted His Girlfriend
A Pasadena man was sentenced to 77 years to life in prison for killing his sister after she texted his girlfriend explaining that her brother was not abused as a child and he shouldn’t be assaulting women, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
In February, Johnny Goins was found guilty of first-degree murder, willful, premeditated and deliberate attempted murder and shooting at an inhabited dwelling.
The jury also found true that Goins discharged a firearm causing a death.
Goins spat at the judge and began shouting obscenities after the sentence was handed down, according to the Los Angeles Times.
According to evidence presented during the trial, Goins’ girlfriend told his sister, Tanaya Goins, that the defendant had tried to suffocate her.
The girlfriend told Tanaya Goins in a series of texts that Johnny Goins told her that he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder because he was abused as a child.
Tanaya Goins then told the girlfriend that her brother was not abused and that he shouldn’t be assaulting women, officials said.
On March 5, 2015, Johnny Goins went to his sister’s San Gabriel apartment and shot her multiple times through a window and the door.
The victim was hit in the head and the torso and died at the scene, officials said. Her teen son was also struck, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
A witness testified during the trial that she saw Johnny Goins run from the apartment after the shooting. He was later arrested in Moreno Valley, officials said.
Goins was ordered to pay $14,200 in restitution to the California Victim Compensation Board and $1,300 to the victim’s mother for funeral expenses, officials said.