Artist to unveil Pacoima mural honoring Gabriel Fernandez

A Los Angeles County artist will unveil his heartwarming mural honoring the life of a little boy in the middle of a horrific crime. 

There's barely a second that goes by when Juan Pablo Reyes isn't thinking about Gabriel Fernandez. 

"He's always here with us," he said. "The signs are everywhere. In the back of the stop sign, there is a 28, and that was the number of his classroom. This is where he said, I want my mural."

Gabrielito was born in Pacoima before he moved to Palmdale with his mother and her boyfriend. More than a decade ago, Fernandez endured months of beatings, starvation and torture before eventually dying at the hands of the couple.

"I use art as a bridge to bring people together and empower one another through common humanity to heal one another, because you can't heal what you don't reveal," Reyes said.

He added that bringing awareness to child abuse and neglect is part of the healing process. 

"If we don't do it, who's going to do it," Reyes said. "It's our duty as gente [Spanish for people] from the community to bring awareness child abuse, child neglect."

Now, 11 years after Gabriel's death Reyes is painting a beautiful mural in memory of a little boy with big dreams — dreams that were taken away from him. 

"On the right side of the mural we have Jesus holding down Gabrielito," Reyes said. "Then we have eight doves. The eight doves represent his age when he passed away and then we have a beautiful message that says as we sit in heaven."

Each stroke Reyes makes represents a bittersweet reminder of a special boy who continues to touch people's lives. 

"Sometimes the messenger is the message," he said. "He symbolized that change can happen within the system."

Reyes also hopes it reminds people to step up when they see abuse. 

"If you see something, say something," he said. "We're going to save lives."

The Gabriel Fernandez Mural will be unveiled on Oct. 5, at 10:30 a.m. at 13180 Van Nuys Blvd, Pacoima, CA 91331.