A heartbreaking video shows the moment a four-year-old boy from Texas begged his father for a piece of bread before he later starved to death.
More than 30 videos of Benjamin Cervera were shown in court on Monday, including a video of the small boy nervously asking his father for something to eat.
‘Dad, dad, can I have bread?’ Benjamin said with his hands tightly folded in front of his chest as his clothes hung off of him. The video was taken just days before the four-year-old died of starvation.
The young boy begged his father for bread, water, or milk before pleading: ‘I want some bread,’ according to KSAT.
The videos, where captured on cellphone and surveillance footage, were played in front of Benjamin’s father, Brandon Cervera, 31, who faces life in prison if convicted.
‘Dad, dad, can I have bread?’ Benjamin said with his hands tightly folded in front of his chest as his clothes hung off of him. The video was taken just days before the four-year-old died of starvation
More than 30 videos of Benjamin Cervera were shown in court on Monday, including a video of the small boy nervously asking his father for something to eat
Other videos from early 2021 show the small boy rooting through cabinets and the fridge to get food in the middle of the night. Benjamin could be seen grabbing fruit snacks, a Jell-O cup, cookies, and milk.
Eventually, Brandon would lock the cabinets, making it harder for Benjamin to steal food.
In a text exchange with his ex-wife, Brandon allegedly told her: ‘He don’t need to eat dinner’ and told his ex to just give the child bread after she told him he had been begging all day.
Surveillance footage also shows the child crying while trapped in his sparsely furnished room, which he shared with his brother. Benjamin was the only family member who did not have a bed and he was forced to sleep on a mattress with a urine-soaked blanket.
Other videos show Benjamin punching himself in the face in the backseat of a car and Brandon threatening his child while he begged for bread, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The cellphone footage was obtained by police off his stepmother Miranda Casarez’s device, while the surveillance footage was taken from cameras placed inside the apartment, according to Detective Lawrence Saiz of the San Antonio Police Department.
Benjamin’s father, Brandon Cervera, 31, who faces life in prison if convicted, was expressionless while the videos played in court on Monday
While prosecutors displayed the evidence, many jurors had to look away or shook their heads, all while Brandon remained expressionless, according to KSAT.
The Bexar County Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Kimberley Molina, also showed photos of Benjamin’s bruised body and told the court the injuries were not from attempts to perform CPR – as Brandon’s defense has tried to conclude.
The father’s defense has attempted to discredit Molina’s report, where she ruled the boy died of starvation, saying it is misleading, according to KSAT.
His attorney, Jodi Soyars, argued that Molina rounded the numbers and that could affect how the child’s growth was perceived, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The boy’s clothing and weight were used to calculate his BMI, which helped lead her to a starvation ruling.
Benjamin only weighed 28 pounds at the time of his death and hadn’t grown in 10 months, according to Molina. She also noted the boy had no body fat and no food was found in the intestinal tract when he died.
During a welfare check (pictured), Benjamin was seen with black eyes and was extremely skinny. When the child died, he had no body fat, no food in his intestinal tract, had macrocytic anemia, his thymus gland had disappeared, and he weighed a mere 28 pounds
Other videos from early 2021 show the small boy rooting through cabinets and the fridge to get food in the middle of the night. Benjamin could be seen grabbing fruit snacks, a Jell-O cup, cookies, and milk
Surveillance footage also shows the child crying while trapped in his sparsely furnished room, which he shared with his brother. Benjamin was the only family member who did not have a bed and he was forced to sleep on a mattress with a urine-soaked blanket
She also said Benjamin suffered from macrocytic anemia from vitamin deficiencies. The blood disorder occurs when the body lacks essential nutrients to form enough blood cells.
Benjamin’s thymus gland – located in the upper chest – had also disappeared, which is possible if a child is under extreme stress, she said, according to The Express-News.
Pediatrician James Lukefahr, who treated the boy at the hospital where he died, also said the boy was underweight for his age and agreed with Molina’s ruling.
‘In my opinion, there was substantial evidence that Benji had been the victim of starvation leading up to his death,’ he said, according to KSAT.
During a welfare check, Benjamin was seen with black eyes and was so skinny his ribs poked out.
Officer Omar Perez, one of the two cops who made the welfare call, told the court that Benjamin ‘had visible injuries.’
Benjamin would sneak into the kitchen at night to get food, but that eventually became harder as locks were added
His cause of death was ruled starvation by a medical examiner. Brandon’s defense have tried to claim the autopsy is misleading and the boy had always been small
Perez added: ‘He had bruises on his eyes and torso and he was skinny…able to see his bones.’
Brandon and Casarez told police the boy had harmed himself and had behavioral issues.
Benjamin died on August 17, 2021 and Brandon now faces charges of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, which a felony.
Casarez was found guilty in April and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for injury to a child by omission causing serious bodily injury, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Benjamin’s older brother, who is only identified as BC, testified that Casarez forced his brother to eat hot sauce and hand sanitizer and would throw the boy in the air and not catch him, according to People.
