A mother and stepfather have been sentenced to prison more than four years after Los Angeles County authorities said the couple tortured their 16-year-old daughter to death over text messages she exchanged with teenage boys.
The teen, identified as “Pearlene V,” “collapsed and died” inside a “makeshift bathroom” located inside a trailer where she lived with her family on August 15, 2021, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The trailer allegedly lacked running water and electricity.
Pearlene died after hours of physical punishments and beatings carried out by her mother, Oriana Elias, and stepfather, Vincent Gibbs, the district attorney’s office said in a Friday, April 3, news release on their sentences.
Elias, 38, and Gibbs, 39, who both live in Vallejo, became unhappy when they learned of “inappropriate” texts that Pearlene allegedly sent to teen boys, according to prosecutors.
As punishment, the couple made Pearlene do “strenuous exercises in the hot sun” and also beat her with a wooden plank and belt before she then died, prosecutors said. The alleged torture unfolded in front of Pearlene’s sisters.
On Thursday, April 2, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Scott Yang sentenced both Elias and Gibbs to 22 to years to life in prison in connection with Pearlene’s death, according to prosecutors.
“This sentence reflects an unthinkable betrayal by parents who are meant to protect their children from harm,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement. “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.”
It was not immediately clear who represented Elias and Gibbs in the case.
Their sentencings come after a jury found Elias guilty on March 17 of one count of second-degree murder, one count of torture, one count of child abuse, and two counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, according to prosecutors.
The jury also determined she “caused great bodily injury” to her daughter, the district attorney’s office said.
Gibbs was also convicted in the case on March 17. According to prosecutors, he was found guilty of one count of second-degree murder, one count of torture, and one felony count of child abuse.
Jurors also “found true the allegation that Gibbs caused great bodily injury and used a weapon in the commission of the crime,” the district attorney’s office said.
Elias had initially told Pearlene’s sisters to keep quiet about the circumstances leading to her death while paramedics were on the way to their home, according to prosecutors.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau investigated Elias and Gibbs.
