Gabriel Fernandez was eight years old. In photographs, he often has close-cropped dark brown hair, which accentuates his sharp features and almond-shaped eyes. Those features soften when his face opens up into a smile, revealing two missing front teeth. In one, he sits on the floor at home, wearing a bright yellow t-shirt with the face of the cartoon character Sponge Bob Squarepants on it.

One final picture is a close-up of Gabriel's face as he lies in a hospital bed. His almond-eyes are swollen shut, his face is bruised, and tubes have been inserted in his nose and mouth.