SAN ANTONIO — A four-year-old boy has died after suffering child abuse and starvation and a man is charged in his death, according to arrest documents from the San Antonio Police Department
The arrest affidavit shows that Brandon Lee Cervera is facing charges of injury to a child intentionally and knowingly.
The report says Benjamin Cervera was brought into the Children's Hospital by his step-mother on August 17, 2021, after he was unresponsive. He was pronounced dead later that day.
Investigators said the boy appeared to be severely malnourished and underweight and had several bruises in various states of healing. Cervera was interviewed by police and he claimed the boy's wounds were self-inflicted.
An autopsy revealed his wounds could not have been self-inflicted. His injuries were determined to be signs of physical abuse and his official cause of death was starvation.
Through the investigation, the report says videos were seized from the step-mother's phone that show the boy shaking, crying and begging for bread. Another video showed him being made to eat breadcrumbs off the floor without using his arms, and another video showed him begging for water, according to the arrest documents. The photos and videos showed the boy's deterioration leading up to his death.
An arrest warrant for Cervera was issued and signed by a judge on Thursday.