LOS ANGELES — A Palmdale man was sentenced to death and his girlfriend to life in prison without parole Thursday for murdering the woman’s 8-year-old son, who was routinely beaten, starved, forced to sleep in a closet and tortured until his death in 2013.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli called the couple’s actions “horrendous, inhumane and nothing short of evil” before handing down the sentences against Isauro Aguirre, 37, and Pearl Sinthia Fernandez, 34.
Jurors recommended Dec. 13 that Aguirre be sentenced to death after convicting him of first-degree murder and the special circumstance allegation of murder involving the infliction of torture for the death of Gabriel Fernandez.

