‘Heartbreaking’ true crime documentary that left Netflix viewers ‘sobbing’

The ‘horrifying’ true crime documentary, which first aired in 2020, has been rediscovered on social media with viewers describing it as one of the most difficult shows to watch on the streaming service

Gabriel Fernandez died in 2013 aged eight (Image: Netflix)

A “horrifying” true crime documentary currently streaming on Netflix has left audiences devastated after being rediscovered via social media.

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, which originally premiered in 2020, chronicles the deeply disturbing story of the 2013 murder and systematic abuse of an eight year old boy from Palmdale, California.

The six-episode series, widely regarded as one of the most difficult programmes to watch available on the platform, documents the appalling suffering Gabriel experienced at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend.

He was discovered at his family residence in Los Angeles with catastrophic injuries, including a fractured skull and extensive burn marks, alongside bite wounds and trauma caused by a BB gun.

The horrific true story may be the most difficult watch on the streaming platform (Image: Netflix)

His mother Pearl had contacted emergency services claiming her son had stopped breathing following a head injury, though she subsequently admitted to deliberately harming the young child, reports the Mirror.

Gabriel was pronounced brain-dead and passed away two days later following his emergency admission to hospital.

The Netflix documentary examines the legal proceedings surrounding the case, as Pearl and her partner Isauro Aguirre faced trial, along with four social workers who had been responsible for Gabriel’s welfare before he fell through the system.

The episodes feature interviews with members of Gabriel’s family and people who knew him, courtroom testimony and psychologists and experts, questioning why he wasn’t saved before his tragic death.

Gabriel was murdered by his mum and stepdad (Image: Netflix)
Viewers have described it as “the most horrifying crime documentary”, with one person writing in a Reddit thread: “The fact he wrote that letter to his mom as a school project, professing his love for his mom; all the while he was bald, bruised and battered is just heartbreaking. He was a little boy, a baby; and his innocent little soul did not deserve what those monsters did.”

“This. This is the part of the story that broke me,” another replied, as someone else said: “This broke me, I cried holding my son just beside myself.”

Referencing another part of the documentary where it was revealed that Gabriel had been forced to eat cat litter as a way to starve and humiliate him, another person said: “I think this is where I stopped watching. I couldn’t take it after that.”

Another person wrote: “This is the only docu that had me full on ugly girl crying. Could never watch it again. Horrible story.”

His mother Pearl was sentenced to life in prison (Image: Netflix)
Someone else said: “At the end… I got up sobbing, just obliterated….defeated….tried to sob and hide and my SO followed me with a quiet hug,” as another agreed: “Heartbreaking.”

Someone else said: “Came here to say this. That stuck with me in such a deep way. It hurt my body physically to watch,” as several others admitted they were sobbing, with one person writing: “I don’t cry easily at all but this one tore me up.”

Yet another viewer wrote: “This was possibly the worst thing I have ever watched. I’ve told people who haven’t seen it to not watch it. Absolutely gut wrenching. I felt sick for days.”

“The documentary is a really difficult watch but it’s an important one,” director Brian Knappenberger previously told EW.

The harrowing documentary left viewers “broken” (Image: Netflix)
“We made the decision that Gabriel’s voice needed to be heard, and in order to tell that story we had to be as honest and as straightforward as we possibly could.

“I think that in the end, this is a story of a kind of redemption, or a questioning of how things can be better in this system and that has motivated us to tell the story.”

He continued: “There’s no question parts of it are very, very intense. But, I think by following the case, the trials, how it was resolved, will help people learn how we can make the system better – which is really the heart of the piece.”

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez is available to watch on Netflix.