To the editor: The torture and killing of 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez (“D.A. seeks death penalty in torture case,” July 2) at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend was as tragic and horrifying as it was preventable. It is unfathomable that this child endured unspeakable acts of abuse from the very person responsible for his well-being. It is unimaginable that someone did not take action to save his life during eight years of brutality and parental abuse.
There are many more Gabriels in our society. Drug addiction has catastrophic results for the innocents cast into a world of troubled, dangerous and violent adults.