Stepmom Who Starved Stepson To Death,Forced Him To Drink Urine, Sanitizer and Hot Sauce, Sentenced

Miranda Cásarez, sentenced in the starvation death of her stepson, Benjamin “Benji” Cervera Jr., inset.Photo byScreenshots from KSAT 12/YouTube)

A Bexar County jury sentenced Miranda Casarez to 25 years in prison on Thursday for the starvation death of her stepson.

Miranda Casarez was sentenced to 25 years in prisonPhoto bySBG San Antonio

The jury deliberated for more than four hours before returning the sentence for starving four-year-old Benjamin Cervera to death. Benjamin had been forced to drink urine, hand sanitizer and hot sauce and was found weighing 28 pounds and his body was covered in bruises when at his time of death.

Miranda Cásarez learned her fate on Thursday in the Aug. 17, 2021, death of her stepson, Benjamin “Benji” Cervera Jr. She was convicted on charges of injury to a child with serious bodily injury. The boy’s father, Brandon Cervera Sr., also faces charges in the case and awaits trial.

“With this guilty verdict, I hope you never to get to experience the same so you can wallow in the emptiness and despair you left me in,” said Erica Flores, Benjamin’s mother, in a victim’s statement read to the jury.

Miranda Casarez was sentenced to 25 years in prisonPhoto bySBG San Antonio

Casarez took the stand again on Thursday with the hope of mitigating the guilty verdict, which the jury came to in just one hour the previous day. Her attorney had argued for probation.

“I hope instead of laughter you hear my son’s cries,” Amy Flores Zepeda said on behalf of her sister, Benji’s biological mother, The San Antonio Express-News reported.

Prosecutor Michael Villareal accused her of starving the boy and forcing him to drink urine, hand sanitizer and hot sauce, the Express-News reported.

Prosecutors presented evidence such as text messages they said were between her and her mother, showing she talked about deliberately withholding food from the boy. Prosecutors said she placed locks on the pantry and had cellphone video depicting abuse and the denial of nourishment.

Casarez froze. She denied sending the messages.

“She should have to think about Benji every day of the rest of her life,” said Prosecutor Michael Villareal, Texas Public Radio reported.

Cásarez denied hurting her stepson, said his father put the locks on the pantry and fridge, and he controlled her, the newspaper reported. She said she loved the boy and even got a tattoo of his name and his date of birth and death after he died.

“He was like one of my kids,” Casarez said when her lawyer asked why she wanted to remember her stepson that way, the Express-News reported.

Her attorney, Anthony Cantrell, planned to appeal. He had argued for probation, saying she loved children and had a difficult upbringing and volatile relationships. “I don’t think they even looked at the evidence,” he said about the jury, the radio station reported. “They had to blame someone, and they blamed my client.”

Benjamin was found nonresponsive, and he died on Aug. 17, 2021, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. An autopsy revealed alarming signs of starvation, officials said. Concerns had been raised about his health earlier, but despite involvement by Child Protective Services (CPS) and a hospital visit, he was cleared, prosecutors said.

“Death by starvation is horrible and unconscionable,” Bexar County Criminal District Attorney Joe Gonzales said in the statement.

“This case paints a grim picture of neglect and abuse and highlights the urgency of justice for victimized children.”

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Jury hands San Antonio stepmom 25-year prison term after she testified that she loved Benjamin Cervera, 4, and that his…www.expressnews.com