The murder trial of a man accused of brutally abusing and then killing an 8-year-old boy because the boy was thought to be gay has begun in Los Angeles, with a prosecutor detailing the “systematic torture” of the boy.

Gabriel Fernandez was repeatedly beaten, sustaining a fractured skull and broken ribs, and suffered burn marks, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami told a jury Monday. The child was starved, fed cat feces and his own vomit, sprayed with pepper spray and tied up and forced to sleep in a closet, the prosecutor said in his opening statement.

Isauro Aguirre, 37, the boyfriend of the boy’s mother, is charged with murder and facing the death penalty in the case. The mother, 32-year-old Pearl Fernandez, also is charged with capital murder and will be tried separately.

Gabriel Fernandez was found gagged and bound in a cabinet in the couple’s home in Palmdale, California, when first responders discovered him on May 22, 2013. He was declared brain dead and taken off life support two days later.