'The Trials Of Gabriel Fernandez' Trailer: Netflix True Crime Docu-Series Puts The Whole System On Trial

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez is a new six-part true crime series from Netflix, and it looks like a particularly tough watch. Indeed, the opening moments of the newly released trailer feature a court bailiff warning people in a courtroom that the case they're about to hear is "very emotional" and that it might end up overwhelming them. In 2013, an 8-year-old boy died after long-standing abuse from his mother and her boyfriend. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez examines not so much the murder as it does the system that knew about the abuse, but failed to help.

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez Trailer

I'm hooked on most of Netflix's true crime docs, but The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez looks like it's going to be particularly hard to sit through, even for true crime fanatics like me. Here's the synopsis:

In 2013, 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez died as a result of horrific and prolonged abuse by his mother and her boyfriend. In the wake of the tragedy, a demand for justice and accountability exploded in Los Angeles County. This six-part documentary series from award-winning documentarian Brian Knappenberger (Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press)  offers an inside look at the trial as well as an eye-opening investigation into the government systems that failed to protect Gabriel, despite multiple reports and warning signs. Along with shedding light on an important story, The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez serves as a wake-up call to reexamine the structures designed to protect children in need.

The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez comes from director Brian Knappenberger, director of The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron SwartzWe Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists, and the Gawker doc Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press  "I think Gabriel could've been saved about a dozen different ways and that's what's so intense and so heartbreaking about his story," Knappenberger told People.

The six-episode series drop on Netflix Wednesday, February 26.