SAN ANTONIO – More than 30 videos, including cellphone footage and surveillance recordings, were shown in court Monday in the trial of a man accused of starving his 4-year-old son to death.
In one of the videos, Benjamin Cervera can be heard crying and asking for bread, water, or milk, pleading, “Dad, dad, I want some bread.”
The harrowing footage was played for the jury as part of the state’s case against Brandon Cervera, who faces life in prison if convicted of his son’s death, which was ruled a result of starvation.
The videos, presented by the prosecution, showed Benjamin in his bedroom and kitchen during early June 2021. In multiple clips, he can be seen searching for food, at times eating fruit, cookies, Jello, and milk late at night.
However, as time passed, access to food became increasingly difficult for the boy as locks were installed on kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator, the footage revealed.
Detective Lawrence Saiz of the San Antonio Police Department testified that the cellphone videos were obtained from the boy’s stepmother’s phone, along with surveillance footage from cameras inside the apartment that were kept by Brandon Cervera.
In addition to the video evidence, the jury was presented with text messages exchanged between Brandon Cervera and his ex-wife, in which the defendant stated that Benjamin was given bread, saying, “He doesn’t need to eat dinner.”
During the presentation of the videos, some jurors were observed looking away or shaking their heads in response to the graphic content. Brandon Cervera, however, remained expressionless throughout the viewing.
Earlier in court, the Bexar County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kimberley Molina was brought back to continue where her testimony left off last week.
Photos of bruising all over Benjamin’s body were shown and Molina said they were not as the result of CPR, as the defense tried to conclude.
The defense tried to discredit the autopsy report and said that Molina’s findings were misleading.
The state rested its case late Monday afternoon.
The trial is expected to continue Tuesday morning.
If convicted, Cervera could face life in prison.
KSAT 12 will livestream Cevera’s trial gavel to gavel on all digital platforms. We want to warn you that details in this case will be hard to watch and hear during the trial.
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