A mother and stepfather have been sentenced to 22 years to life in state prison for the torture and murder of the woman’s 16-year-old daughter in the summer of 2021, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
Oriana Estela Elias, 38, and Vincent Gibbs, 39, of Vallejo, were convicted March 17 of one felony count each of second-degree murder, torture and child abuse, along with jurors finding true an allegation that they caused great bodily injury, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Elias was also found guilty of two felony counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, while jurors also found true an allegation that Gibbs used a weapon during the crime, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The charges against the two — who were sentenced Thursday — stemmed from the death of Elias’ daughter, identified only as Pearlene V.
The couple tortured the girl, resulting in her death, because they were upset with her for sending inappropriate text messages to teenage boys, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The girl was punished by having to perform strenuous exercises in the hot sun and then beaten with a wooden plank and a belt for several hours in abuse that was witnessed by her sisters, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The girl eventually collapsed and died in a makeshift bathroom of a trailer in which the family had been living that did not have running water or electricity, and Elias told the girl’s sisters not to tell paramedics or police what they had done to the girl, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
In a statement, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the sentence “reflects an unthinkable betrayal by parents, who are meant to protect their children from harm.”
“Pearlene was denied the chance to grow up and become who she was meant to be. There is no punishment that can restore the loss of life,” he added.