The mother of an 8-year-old boy who died after apparent torture, along with her boyfriend, are expected to be arraigned Tuesday on capital murder charges in the boy’s death.
Pearl Fernandez, 29, and Isauro Aguirre, 32, were taken into custody after 8-year-old Gabriel was found with broken bones, barely breathing, on May 22 at the couple's Palmdale apartment.
He later died in at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and his injuries suggested torture, county coroner officials said.
A neighbor described cigarette burns she saw on the boy.
Fernandez and Aguirre were each charged with one count of cpaital muder with the special circumstance of torture, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced just after noon on Tuesday.
Fernandez, the boy’s mother, had earlier been charged with cruelty to a child likely to produce great bodily injury.
Aguirre, Fernandez’s boyfriend, was initially arrested on a charge of attempted murder before Gabriel died. He is being held on $1 million bail.
Both are due for arraignment in Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster after 1:30 p.m.
Prosecutors will ask that the pair be held without bail, the District Attorney's Office stated.
The boy’s grandfather said in Spanish that he believes his daughter, Fernandez, is responsible for the death.
Aguirre's family, present at the courthouse, defended him.
"He loved those kids. She did it, and everybody knows she did it. Even her family knows she did it," said a relative of Aguirre’s who did not want to be identified.
Protesters are expected at the courthouse. Those who rallied Monday faulted the troubled Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services for failing to respond to the abuse.
The boy's two siblings were taken into protective custody by the department.
NBC4's Annette Arreola contributed to this article.