Jury finds woman guilty in starvation death of her stepson

SAN ANTONIO – A woman accused of starving her 4-year-old stepson was found guilty Wednesday.

A jury deliberated for about an hour before returning its verdict in the trial of Miranda Casarez, who was charged with injury to a child in the death of her stepson, Benjamin Cervera.

The state said Casarez allegedly withheld food and water from Benjamin and even recorded a video on her phone of him crying and begging for bread.

In the video clip shown in court, Benjamin is sitting in the backseat of the car and is crying saying, “I want bread.” Casarez can be heard telling him to sit back and you briefly see the side of her face before the video is cut off.

The video was taken the morning of Aug. 17, 2021, just hours before he was taken to a hospital and died from what has been ruled as starvation.

Casarez along with the boy’s father, Brandon Cervera, were arrested and charged in the case after Benjamin died. Cervera is also charged in the case and his trial is pending.

Related coverage on KSAT:

• Jury sees video of child begging for food on first day of starvation death trial
• 12-year-old testifies against stepmother in starvation death trial
• Bexar County Medical Examiner testifies in starvation death trial
• ‘Miranda Casarez is not a monster’: Defense tells jury death of 4-year-old boy was not starvation-related
• Family of woman accused of starving her stepson to death tells jury she was a good mother