# 308: Benjamin Cervera

An episode of [Morbidology](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1463979546), 12 May 2025, 48 min.

Audio: https://prefix.up.audio/s/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/s.gum.fm/s-610c47a4222ada0024acb2d8/pscrb.fm/rss/p/prfx.byspotify.com/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/2IMk17EdnEqyRhJTIpIU/claritaspod.com/measure/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/65524127/morbidology_308_benjamin_cervera.mp3

On the morning of August 17, 2021, the emergency room at Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, was bustling with the usual chaos of a busy hospital. Nurses rushed between patients, doctors consulted charts, and worried parents lingered by their children’s bedsides. Then, the doors burst open. A little boy was rushed inside—his body frail, his skin bruised, his breath shallow. He was barely clinging to life… SPONSORS - FUM: Head to https://www.tryfum.com/MORBIDOLOGY and use promo code MORBIDOLOGY to kick your bad habit today! Salt River Therapy: Are you feeling overwhelmed by life’s challenges? At Salt River Therapy, their therapists provide you with a safe, affirming space to heal and grow. Schedule a free consultation: https://saltrivertherapy.com/ SHOW NOTES - https://morbidology.com/morbidology-podcast/ PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/morbidology YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/morbidology Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/morbidology--3527306/support.

## Transcript

[0:34] Speaker 1: Some children's monsters live in bed, but Benjamin for that
[0:38] Speaker 1: a monster lived in the room next door, and he
[0:41] Speaker 1: called her mom.
[0:56] Speaker 2: San Antonio and Texas is a city rich in history,
[1:00] Speaker 2: a place where the past and present collide. It was
[1:03] Speaker 2: founded as a Spanish mission in seventeen eighteen and would
[1:06] Speaker 2: become one of the most pivotal locations in Texas history.
[1:09] Speaker 2: The echoes of the famous Battle of the Alamo still
[1:12] Speaker 2: linger in the heart of the city, with crumbling stone
[1:14] Speaker 2: walls of a bygone era. Over the century, san Antonio
[1:18] Speaker 2: grew into a vibrant metropolis, blending Texan and Mexican cultures
[1:22] Speaker 2: into something entirely of its own. The river Walk, lined
[1:26] Speaker 2: with bustling restaurants and twinkling lights, welcomes millions of visitors
[1:30] Speaker 2: each year. But beneath the warmth of its culture and
[1:33] Speaker 2: the pride of its history, san Antonio has seen its
[1:36] Speaker 2: share of darkness, and on one evening, in a quiet
[1:40] Speaker 2: neighborhood far from the tourist spots, something happened that would
[1:43] Speaker 2: leave even the most hardened detective shaken. A nine one
[1:47] Speaker 2: one call came in one summer evening, reporting an unresponsive
[1:50] Speaker 2: young boy. When he arrived at the hospital. It was
[1:54] Speaker 2: clear that this wasn't just a case of a child
[1:56] Speaker 2: falling ill. Something could be happening to this for a
[2:00] Speaker 2: very long time. Christi's Children's Hospital in San Antonio, Texas
[2:20] Speaker 2: was alive with its usual energy. On the evening of
[2:22] Speaker 2: August seventeenth, twenty twenty one, the halls were filled with
[2:26] Speaker 2: the steady rhythm of medical staff moving from room to room,
[2:30] Speaker 2: checking on young patients. The soft baping of monitors blended
[2:34] Speaker 2: with the occasional chatter of nurses at their stations. Parents
[2:38] Speaker 2: sat beside their children, some reading books, allowed others whispering reassurances.
[2:44] Speaker 2: The air carried the distinct scent of antiseptic, a mixture
[2:48] Speaker 2: of sterility and care. That evening, an ambulance arrived and
[2:53] Speaker 2: paramedics rushed through the emergency room doors with a stretcher.
[2:57] Speaker 2: It contained the small, lifeless body of a little boy.
[3:01] Speaker 2: The boy was limp and his skin was pale. He
[3:05] Speaker 2: was accompanied by a woman later identified as Miranda Casseris.
[3:10] Speaker 2: She spoke frantically, telling staff that her steps on four
[3:13] Speaker 2: year old Benjamin Servera had suddenly become on responsive at home.
[3:18] Speaker 2: She had called nine one one from the car and
[3:20] Speaker 2: the despatcher told her to stop and begin chest compressions.
[3:24] Speaker 2: Miranda did what she was asked, and the ambulance met
[3:27] Speaker 2: them on the road and sped to the hospital with
[3:29] Speaker 2: sirens blazing. The your staff immediately sprang into action. A
[3:35] Speaker 2: nerve swiftly took Benjamin and placed him onto a gurney.
[3:39] Speaker 2: A doctor leaned in, checking for any signs of consciousness,
[3:42] Speaker 2: while another nurse adjusted an oxygen mask over the child's
[3:46] Speaker 2: tiny face. His body was completely still. He was dressed
[3:51] Speaker 2: only in a disposable diaper, and it was soaked with urine,
[3:55] Speaker 2: an odd detail that didn't go unnoticed by the medical staff.
[3:59] Speaker 2: As they rote ushed Benjamin into a private examination room,
[4:02] Speaker 2: his condition became even more alarming. His small frame was
[4:07] Speaker 2: far too thin, his ribs pressing against his skin. His
[4:11] Speaker 2: eyes were sunken into his face. He weigges twenty eight pounds,
[4:16] Speaker 2: severely underweight for a boy his age. Bruises of varying
[4:21] Speaker 2: shades marked his body, some fresh, others older, fading into
[4:26] Speaker 2: yellow and green. The doctor exchanged a glance with the nurse.
[4:31] Speaker 2: Something was wrong. This wasn't just an unexplained medical emergency.
[4:35] Speaker 2: This appeared to be something far more sinister. One of
[4:39] Speaker 2: them quietly instructed another staff member to call the police.
[4:44] Speaker 2: Despite their best efforts, Benjamin's fragile body couldn't take any more.
[4:48] Speaker 2: His heart stopped, and within moments he was pronounced dead.
[4:53] Speaker 2: The hum of the hospital continued around them, but in
[4:56] Speaker 2: that small room, there was only silence. Detectives arrived at
[5:08] Speaker 2: Christa's Children's Hospital not too long after that nine one
[5:11] Speaker 2: one call was placed. The air was tense. Doctors and
[5:15] Speaker 2: nurses moved quietly around the emergency department, their gazes flickering
[5:20] Speaker 2: towards the room where a small boy had just been
[5:22] Speaker 2: pronounced dead. The detectives immediately made their way over to
[5:26] Speaker 2: the woman who brought Benjamin in, Miranda Casserius. They led
[5:31] Speaker 2: Miranda into a quiet room to talk. She looked tired,
[5:35] Speaker 2: but her face was lined with frustration rather than grief.
[5:39] Speaker 2: Miranda wasted no time in voicing her complaints. Benjamin wasn't
[5:43] Speaker 2: her child. He was the child of her boyfriend, Brandon Lee. Severa.
[5:48] Speaker 2: She told detectives that she had been the one left
[5:50] Speaker 2: to care for the children Benjamin, Benjamin's ten and four
[5:54] Speaker 2: year old brothers, her five year old son, and their
[5:56] Speaker 2: six month old baby. She said that Brandon was ready home.
[6:01] Speaker 2: He worked long hours, and when he wasn't working, he
[6:03] Speaker 2: was out with his friends. One of the detectives carefully
[6:07] Speaker 2: asked Miranda if she had been struggling with postpartum depression.
[6:11] Speaker 2: She shook her head no. She said she was just exhausted,
[6:16] Speaker 2: and she spoke about Benjamin. She described him as bad.
[6:20] Speaker 2: She said that he never listened, that he cried constantly,
[6:23] Speaker 2: and that he was difficult. Her tone was flat, detached,
[6:28] Speaker 2: far from the sorrow one might expect from a mother
[6:30] Speaker 2: figure who had just lost a child, and she made
[6:33] Speaker 2: a shocking claim. According to Miranda, Benjamin often eed his
[6:37] Speaker 2: own feces. She said that he would reach into his
[6:41] Speaker 2: diaper and consume it. She said she didn't understand why
[6:44] Speaker 2: he did it. Despite his behavior, she insisted that she
[6:48] Speaker 2: had never hurt him. Detectives listened as she explained her
[6:52] Speaker 2: version of what had happened. She claimed that she disciplined
[6:56] Speaker 2: Benjamin the way any parent would with timeouts, by making
[6:59] Speaker 2: him sit on his She never struck him, she said,
[7:02] Speaker 2: never laid a hand on him. But the evidence in
[7:05] Speaker 2: front of them had told a different story. Benjamin's body
[7:09] Speaker 2: was covered in bruises and they were in various stages,
[7:13] Speaker 2: some fresh, some fading. His tiny frame bore injuries that
[7:17] Speaker 2: suggested prolonged mistreatment. When asked about these, Miranda had an explanation.
[7:24] Speaker 2: She said that Benjamin had inflicted those injuries on himself.
[7:28] Speaker 2: She described the four year old as a troubled child,
[7:31] Speaker 2: then that he often smacked himself in the face, hit
[7:33] Speaker 2: his own head, pit his fingernails and toe nails until
[7:36] Speaker 2: they bled. She claimed that she had told Brandon about
[7:39] Speaker 2: his behavior, but he only responded with anger, cursing at
[7:43] Speaker 2: her and dismissing her concerns. Then Miranda reached into her
[7:48] Speaker 2: pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She scrolled for
[7:51] Speaker 2: several moments before handing it to the detectives. A video
[7:55] Speaker 2: played on the screen. In it, Benjamin was striking himself
[7:59] Speaker 2: on the head. His voice was small and weak as
[8:02] Speaker 2: he begged for bread. Miranda said that before Benjamin died,
[8:07] Speaker 2: he had been shoving his fingers down his throat, forcing
[8:10] Speaker 2: himself to vomit. She claimed that he had thrown up
[8:13] Speaker 2: blood and mucus, and had assumed that it was from
[8:16] Speaker 2: scratching his throat too hard. Detectives exchanged a look. This
[8:23] Speaker 2: was only the beginning of their investigation, but one thing
[8:26] Speaker 2: was already clear. There was far more to Benjamin's story
[8:29] Speaker 2: than what Miranda was telling them. As detectives continued their investigation,
[8:45] Speaker 2: Benjamin's small body was transported to the Baxer County Medical
[8:48] Speaker 2: Examiner's office. It was here, under the right overheadlights of
[8:52] Speaker 2: the autopsy room that the trick extent of his suffering
[8:56] Speaker 2: would be revealed. Doctor Kimberly Molina, the chief medical Examiner,
[9:01] Speaker 2: conducted the autopsy. She found that Benjamin was markedly underweight.
[9:07] Speaker 2: His small frame had no body fat, none at all.
[9:11] Speaker 2: It was clear that he had been systematically deprived of
[9:13] Speaker 2: food over a long period of time. Doctor Molina estimated
[9:18] Speaker 2: that Benjamin had been starved for approximately four and a
[9:20] Speaker 2: half months. There were no underlying medical conditions, no hidden
[9:25] Speaker 2: illness that could explain his frail state or his untimely death.
[9:30] Speaker 2: His body had told a different story. Bruss covered him,
[9:34] Speaker 2: his arms, his legs, his torso, even the scalp in
[9:37] Speaker 2: the back of his head. They were old and new,
[9:41] Speaker 2: and despite what Miranda had claimed, these injuries weren't self inflicted.
[9:46] Speaker 2: The pathologists determined that it would have been impossible for
[9:49] Speaker 2: a child of Benjamin's size and condition to cause such
[9:52] Speaker 2: widespread damage to himself. None of these injuries had been
[9:56] Speaker 2: the cause of Benjamin's death. He hadn't died from blunt
[10:00] Speaker 2: forced trauma. He hadn't suffered a sudden, violent end. Instead,
[10:05] Speaker 2: Benjamin had slowly starved to death. With the autopsy results
[10:20] Speaker 2: confirming what detectives already suspected, attention turned to the place
[10:24] Speaker 2: where he had spent his final months. The investigation led
[10:28] Speaker 2: them to the family's apartment on Iserhar Road, located on
[10:31] Speaker 2: the northeast side of San Antonio. Benjamin had lived there
[10:36] Speaker 2: with his father, Brandon, his stepmother Miranda, and his three
[10:39] Speaker 2: half siblings. Armed with the search warrant, detectives made their
[10:43] Speaker 2: way inside. At first glance, the apartment seemed ordinary. The
[10:48] Speaker 2: living room was hi day, the kitchen clean. The master
[10:51] Speaker 2: bedroom was well kept. There were no immediate signs of neglect,
[10:55] Speaker 2: nothing that screamed abuse. But as they looked closer, small
[10:59] Speaker 2: details stood out. The refrigerator was locked, so it was
[11:03] Speaker 2: the pantry door and the kitchen cabinets. Every source of
[11:07] Speaker 2: food was secured. Then detectives came across the second bedroom.
[11:12] Speaker 2: The door had a lock on the outside, not to
[11:15] Speaker 2: keep intruders out, but to keep somebody in. When they
[11:19] Speaker 2: opened the door, the stench of urine hit them like
[11:21] Speaker 2: a wall. This was where the children had lived. Benjamin's
[11:26] Speaker 2: siblings had beds with duvets and pillows, but Benjamin was
[11:29] Speaker 2: forced to sleep on a bear urine soaked mattress. In
[11:33] Speaker 2: the corner. A camera was mounted on the wall with
[11:36] Speaker 2: its lens pointed directly at the mattress. There was another
[11:40] Speaker 2: camera positioned inside the closet. This wasn't just a bedroom,
[11:44] Speaker 2: it was a prison, and this was where Benjamin had
[11:47] Speaker 2: spent the last months of his short life. You know
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[13:43] Speaker 2: detectives process the scene at the apartment, they're mind drifted
[13:46] Speaker 2: back to the hospital the video that Miranda had shown
[13:49] Speaker 2: them of Benjamin hitting himself and begging for food. If
[13:53] Speaker 2: she had recorded that moment, was it possible that there
[13:56] Speaker 2: were more videos, more evidence of what had happened behind
[13:59] Speaker 2: those doors. They obtained to search warrant for Miranda's cell phone.
[14:05] Speaker 2: What they found was the stuff of nightmares. One video,
[14:10] Speaker 2: recorded on the very day of Benjamin's death, showed the
[14:13] Speaker 2: four year old sitting in the back of Miranda's car.
[14:17] Speaker 2: He was unsecured, his frail body shaking. His voice, which
[14:22] Speaker 2: was weak but desperate, filled the recording. I want some bread.
[14:31] Speaker 2: He clasped his hands together as he begged, repeating the
[14:34] Speaker 2: play over and over. From the driver's seat, Miranda's voice
[14:38] Speaker 2: could be heard, no chill out. This recording was taken
[14:43] Speaker 2: just three hours before Benjamin was pronounced dead. That was
[14:47] Speaker 2: only the beginning. In another video, Benjamin could be seen
[14:51] Speaker 2: striking himself on the head, his small hands smacking his
[14:54] Speaker 2: face as he rocked back and forth. He was trembling,
[14:58] Speaker 2: still begging for ba, bread and water. Again, Miranda's voice
[15:03] Speaker 2: could be heard. In another, he was being four save
[15:07] Speaker 2: bread crumbs off the bathroom floor without using his hands.
[15:11] Speaker 2: And then there was a video that was even more disturbing.
[15:15] Speaker 2: Benjamin was being made to drink hand sanitizer. The camera
[15:19] Speaker 2: captured his reaction, his tiny frame shaking his hands frantically
[15:23] Speaker 2: waving in front of his mouth through sobs, he begged
[15:27] Speaker 2: for water, crying as the alcohol burned his throat. Once more,
[15:32] Speaker 2: Miranda's voice could be heard. In another video, Benjamin was
[15:36] Speaker 2: punching himself in the face in the back side of
[15:38] Speaker 2: a car, and yet another he begged for food, but
[15:59] Speaker 2: in this video he was begging his father Brandon for food. Yeah,
[16:20] Speaker 2: detectives scroll through the photos stored on the device. There
[16:24] Speaker 2: were images of Benjamin with swollen, bruised eyes, his small
[16:28] Speaker 2: face barely recognizable. There was a haunting collection of images
[16:33] Speaker 2: that were taken over time, showing the slow, steady deterioration
[16:37] Speaker 2: of Benjamin's body, his arms growing thinner, his ribs becoming
[16:41] Speaker 2: more pronounced, his eyes, which were once bright, fading into
[16:45] Speaker 2: vacant exhaustion. The horrors weren't just limited to Miranda's cell phone.
[16:52] Speaker 2: After searching the family's apartment, detective sees the hard drives
[16:55] Speaker 2: from the security cameras that were mounted inside. Like the
[16:59] Speaker 2: videos on Mora the cell phone, the footage captured something
[17:02] Speaker 2: truly horrific. In one recording, Benjamin could be seen trying
[17:06] Speaker 2: to climb up to get the locks off the refrigerator
[17:08] Speaker 2: and pantry. In another, he was trying to find a
[17:11] Speaker 2: way round the steel gate in the bedroom. He cried
[17:15] Speaker 2: in his bedroom with the door closed, begging for water
[17:18] Speaker 2: and milk. Another clip captured and picking out an empty
[17:33] Speaker 2: bag of snacks from the trash can. In another, Brandon
[17:37] Speaker 2: could be heard threatening Benjamin if he kept crying for
[17:39] Speaker 2: more bread. One clip that was recorded just four days
[17:43] Speaker 2: before Benjamin died, Miranda could be seen speaking on the
[17:46] Speaker 2: phone with his father Brandon. Her voice was sharp, frustrated
[17:51] Speaker 2: as she complained, I can't take it anymore. He starts
[17:54] Speaker 2: yelling and screaming and throwing himself because he wants bread.
[17:58] Speaker 2: She sounded more annoyed than concerned, and Benjamin, the starving
[18:03] Speaker 2: child in the locked bedroom, was still begging for something
[18:06] Speaker 2: to eat. One final recording captured something truly horrific. It
[18:12] Speaker 2: was Benjamin in his locked bedroom at night, wailing. This
[18:31] Speaker 2: was just the night before he died. The evidence collected
[18:43] Speaker 2: thus far showed that Benjamin had lived a horrific life
[18:46] Speaker 2: and had died in agonizing death when Miranda Casseris appeared
[18:51] Speaker 2: to be the ringleader, Detectives couldn't ignore Brandon Severa's role
[18:54] Speaker 2: in all of this. He was absent from most videos
[18:57] Speaker 2: and photographs, yet the conditions in which his son had
[19:00] Speaker 2: lived and died were impossible to overlook. He must have known.
[19:05] Speaker 2: The investigation pressed forward, detectives turned to Benjamin's siblings. What
[19:11] Speaker 2: they revealed was even more disturbing. His ten year old
[19:15] Speaker 2: brother described the routine cruelty that Benjamin injured. Miranda, he said,
[19:20] Speaker 2: would force hand sanitizer and hot sauce down Benjamin's throat,
[19:24] Speaker 2: watching as he gagged in gas for relief. But that
[19:28] Speaker 2: wasn't the worst of it. The boy described a twisted
[19:31] Speaker 2: game that Miranda played, one she called flip flop. In
[19:35] Speaker 2: this so called game, she would throw Benjamin into the
[19:37] Speaker 2: air and then simply let him fall. He would hit
[19:40] Speaker 2: the ground hard, crying in pain. But Miranda never confronted him,
[19:45] Speaker 2: And then there was the nasty water. The ten year
[19:47] Speaker 2: old explained that Miranda would scoop urine from the toilet
[19:50] Speaker 2: into a cup and force Benjamin to drink it. Detectives
[19:55] Speaker 2: listened in horror as he recounted another incident, one that
[19:58] Speaker 2: had taken place at the park. Miranda and her sister
[20:01] Speaker 2: had taken the children out for the day. While playing,
[20:04] Speaker 2: the siblings stepped in dirt and flowers. When they arrived home,
[20:08] Speaker 2: Miranda took their soiled shoes and rubbed them on a
[20:11] Speaker 2: slice of bread. Then she made Benjamin eat it. He
[20:15] Speaker 2: didn't hesitate. He was so hungry that he swallowed it
[20:19] Speaker 2: down without question. His brother continued describing the punishments that
[20:23] Speaker 2: Miranda would inflict. She would hit Benjamin with the belt
[20:27] Speaker 2: or smack him on the bottom, but sometimes she missed,
[20:31] Speaker 2: and sometimes she struck him on the lower back. As
[20:41] Speaker 2: detectives pieced together the final months of Benjamin's life, they
[20:44] Speaker 2: made a chilling discovery. The family was already on the
[20:47] Speaker 2: police's radar. A month before Benjamin died, a relative of
[20:51] Speaker 2: Brandon had made a desperate call to police and asked
[20:54] Speaker 2: for a welfare check. They told the officers that Benjamin
[20:58] Speaker 2: was covered in bruises, that he was starving, and that
[21:01] Speaker 2: he needed help. The call was assigned to Officer Oliver Perez.
[21:07] Speaker 2: He arrived at the apartment, stepping inside to find Brandon
[21:10] Speaker 2: in the kitchen. As he spoke with him, a small
[21:13] Speaker 2: figure appeared from the shadows. It was Benjamin. His face
[21:18] Speaker 2: was swollen, his eyes were blackened, and there was bruising
[21:21] Speaker 2: on his head, torso in arms. He also had a
[21:24] Speaker 2: gauze on his right ear. He walked towards the officer
[21:29] Speaker 2: and quietly asked for animal crackers. The officer noted that
[21:33] Speaker 2: he was thin abnormally, so his ribs were visible. Officer
[21:38] Speaker 2: Perez took out his phone and snapped a few photographs.
[21:42] Speaker 2: Benjamin stood in front of him, smiling for the camera.
[21:45] Speaker 2: He turned his head from side to side, posing like
[21:48] Speaker 2: this was something normal. Then he flexed his arms. When
[21:53] Speaker 2: asked about the bruises, Miranda had an answer ready. She
[21:56] Speaker 2: told the officer that Benjamin had been hurting himself. She
[22:00] Speaker 2: said he would bang his head on the grand and walls,
[22:03] Speaker 2: that she was going to take him to a doctor.
[22:06] Speaker 2: She said, he pokes his eyes and he pokes his ear.
[22:10] Speaker 2: Brandon then added he has behavioral issues. He gets up
[22:14] Speaker 2: at night and goes into the kitchen and eats. The
[22:18] Speaker 2: officer looked around the apartment. The refrigerator was stocked with
[22:21] Speaker 2: foot He noticed the locks on the fridge and pantry doors,
[22:26] Speaker 2: but according to his report, none of them were locked
[22:28] Speaker 2: at the time. Emergency medics were called to check on Benjamin,
[22:33] Speaker 2: and his vitals came back as normal. They asked Benjamin
[22:37] Speaker 2: what had happened to his eyes, like Miranda said, He
[22:45] Speaker 2: said that he poked them. Prez was told to call
[22:48] Speaker 2: CPS to look into the situation further and fill out
[22:51] Speaker 2: a report. He was told that it would lead to
[22:53] Speaker 2: an investigation at a later date, but just one month later,
[22:59] Speaker 2: Benjamin was dead. For months, detectives worked tirelessly to piece
[23:16] Speaker 2: together the horrific details of Benjamin's final days. By February,
[23:20] Speaker 2: they had enough evidence to act arrest warrants were issued.
[23:25] Speaker 2: Benjamin's father, Brandon Lee Severa, was taken into custody in
[23:28] Speaker 2: charge with injury to a child with intent to cause
[23:31] Speaker 2: serious bodily injury. His stepmother, Miranda Casseris, was arrested on
[23:35] Speaker 2: the same charge. Despite the gruesome nature of Benjamin's suffering.
[23:40] Speaker 2: Both were released on bond. The decision was made to
[23:44] Speaker 2: try them separately, with Miranda's trials scheduled. First jury selection
[23:49] Speaker 2: began in April of twenty twenty four, and by the
[23:52] Speaker 2: ninth the panel was seated the trial was ready to begin.
[23:56] Speaker 2: During opening statements, the prosecution wasted no time in putting
[23:59] Speaker 2: forward weard gruesome evidence. The jury was shown the haunting
[24:03] Speaker 2: videos of Benjamin, including the one taken just hours before
[24:07] Speaker 2: he died, sitting in the back of Miranda's car, His voice,
[24:12] Speaker 2: frail and desperate, echoed through the courtroom. I want some bread.
[24:17] Speaker 2: The room was silent other than for a few gasps
[24:20] Speaker 2: of horror. Then prosecutor Michael Villereil stepped forward.
[24:25] Speaker 1: Some children's monsters will vetinin, So Benjamin for that. A
[24:29] Speaker 1: monster lived in the room next door, and he called
[24:32] Speaker 1: her mom.
[24:33] Speaker 2: He didn't sugarcoat the case. The trial, he explained, was
[24:37] Speaker 2: about the cold, painful, stillow starvation of a child. He
[24:42] Speaker 2: warned the jurors that what they were about to say
[24:44] Speaker 2: over the coming days would be disturbing. Photos and videos
[24:47] Speaker 2: documenting Benjamin's physical decline over five months. The evidence, he said,
[24:54] Speaker 2: would lead no doubt as to what had happened, the
[24:58] Speaker 2: prosecutor stepped down. Defense at hern Anthony Cantrell said that
[25:01] Speaker 2: he was waiving his opening statements to the beginning of
[25:04] Speaker 2: their case. Later. The testimony then began. The first witness
[25:09] Speaker 2: was Detective Lawrence sALS. He methodically walked the jury through
[25:13] Speaker 2: the dozens of photographs and videos recovered from Miranda's cell
[25:16] Speaker 2: phone and the security cameras inside the apartment. The images
[25:21] Speaker 2: were devastating. Over just four months, Benjamin had visibly deteriorated.
[25:27] Speaker 2: His arms had become skeletal, his face had hollowed out,
[25:31] Speaker 2: his skin stretched too tightly over his bones. Next on
[25:35] Speaker 2: the stand was doctor James Lukefer, a pediatrician and child
[25:39] Speaker 2: abuse expert. He had reviewed Benjamin's growth charts before his
[25:44] Speaker 2: fourth birthday. Benjamin had been a healthy child, his health
[25:48] Speaker 2: and weight tracking normally. Then something changed. Doctor Lukefarr explained
[25:54] Speaker 2: that pretty abruptly after his fourth birthday, Benjamin's weight began
[25:58] Speaker 2: to decline. There was no medical reason for this, no
[26:02] Speaker 2: underlying condition. The only explanation was starvation. But the defense
[26:08] Speaker 2: fought back. Attorney Anthony Cantrell attempted to discredit the testimony.
[26:14] Speaker 2: He pointed out that Miranda had co operated filly with
[26:16] Speaker 2: the detectives, even handing over her cell phone, the very
[26:20] Speaker 2: device that contained the incriminating evidence. He also argued that
[26:24] Speaker 2: Miranda had taken Benjamin to a doctor at one point.
[26:28] Speaker 2: According to Cantrell, she believed that Benjamin had behavioral issues,
[26:32] Speaker 2: possibly autism. She had been trying, he claimed, to prove
[26:35] Speaker 2: that its struggles weren't normal, But the prosecution had a
[26:39] Speaker 2: different theory. Miranda wasn't looking for help, she was looking
[26:43] Speaker 2: for an excuse, and no excuse could explain what had
[26:47] Speaker 2: happened to Benjamin. After days of expert testimony and forensic evidence,
[26:52] Speaker 2: it was time for the jury to hear from somebody
[26:54] Speaker 2: who had lived inside that apartment, somebody who had witnessed
[26:58] Speaker 2: Benjamin's suffering first hand. Benjamin's twelve year old brother, identified
[27:03] Speaker 2: only as BC, was led to the witness stand. He
[27:07] Speaker 2: clutched the stuffed toy tightly in his hands, his small
[27:10] Speaker 2: frame barely filling the seat. The courtroom held its breath.
[27:16] Speaker 2: State District Judge Christina Escalouna had allowed Basie's guardian, a
[27:20] Speaker 2: great aunt, to sit where he could see her, a
[27:22] Speaker 2: small comfort in a room that was heavy with tension,
[27:26] Speaker 2: Beceie refused to look towards his stepmother Miranda. She, on
[27:30] Speaker 2: the other hand, stared at him, her expression dark. At
[27:35] Speaker 2: times she appeared angry, other times bored. But Bessie kept
[27:40] Speaker 2: his eyes down, his voice barely above a whisper. As
[27:43] Speaker 2: he started to tell his story. He described the punishments
[27:48] Speaker 2: that Miranda inflicted on his brother.
[27:50] Speaker 3: She will usually force Benji to open his mouth by
[27:52] Speaker 3: grabbing and his mouth in China open him and as
[27:56] Speaker 3: you will usually cry because air herds and his hands
[28:00] Speaker 3: iditating and teaste bad.
[28:01] Speaker 2: He spoke about the hand sanitizer, the hot sauce, and
[28:04] Speaker 2: the cups of urine she forced him to drink.
[28:07] Speaker 1: Was there hand sanitizer in the home, Insande? Yes? What
[28:11] Speaker 1: was he used for?
[28:12] Speaker 3: It was used for Miranda to punish.
[28:16] Speaker 2: He explained how Miranda would throw Benjamin into the air,
[28:19] Speaker 2: letting him fall to the ground crying. How she would
[28:22] Speaker 2: make him drink toilet water whenever she was mad, whenever
[28:26] Speaker 2: Benjamin did something bad.
[28:28] Speaker 3: She'll get by when where he's post or he does
[28:31] Speaker 3: something on accident.
[28:33] Speaker 2: Bausie told the jury that Benjamin was always hungry. He
[28:37] Speaker 2: had tried to get food, but the pantry was always locked,
[28:40] Speaker 2: the fridge was locked, the cabinets were locked. The only
[28:44] Speaker 2: thing that was ever left out was bread. He testified,
[28:48] Speaker 2: Miranda wouldn't feed Banji. She would feed him when my
[28:51] Speaker 2: dad was there, or he would bring food. The courtroom
[28:55] Speaker 2: was silent as the little boy spoke. Then he admitted
[28:59] Speaker 2: something harp. He had been too scared to help his
[29:02] Speaker 2: little brother. He said he had tried once to give
[29:06] Speaker 2: Benjamin food, but Miranda snatched it from him and threw
[29:09] Speaker 2: it in the trash. Now it was the defense attorney's turn.
[29:13] Speaker 2: Anthony Cantrell stepped forward. He asked be Sie whether he
[29:17] Speaker 2: had ever seen his brother throw himself on to the
[29:19] Speaker 2: floor or bang his head like Miranda had claimed. He
[29:23] Speaker 2: responded and said he saw his brother bang his head
[29:25] Speaker 2: against the wall once, but said that Miranda had told
[29:28] Speaker 2: him to do it. The defense attorney then asked be
[29:32] Speaker 2: See why he never told his father what was happening
[29:34] Speaker 2: to Benjamin. He replied, I was terrified of Miranda. The
[29:40] Speaker 2: defense attorney suggested that Beaceie would say whatever was necessary
[29:44] Speaker 2: to protect his father. Beaceie replied yes, then added that
[29:48] Speaker 2: he would tell the truth to save of his father.
[29:52] Speaker 2: He then quietly added, my dad is my only piece left.
[29:56] Speaker 2: Without him, it's like I don't even have a dad.
[30:06] Speaker 2: The prosecution had presented their case in stark brutal detail.
[30:11] Speaker 2: Doctor Kimberly Molina, the pathologist who performed Benjamin's autopsy, took
[30:15] Speaker 2: to the stand. She said that Benjamin hadn't died quickly,
[30:21] Speaker 2: he had been starved systematically over a period of four
[30:24] Speaker 2: and a half months. But Miranda's defense attorney Cantrell wasn't
[30:29] Speaker 2: ready to concede. He tried to put holes in her findings.
[30:33] Speaker 2: He suggested that Benjamin might have had Type one diabetes.
[30:38] Speaker 2: He pointed to his high glucose levels at the time
[30:40] Speaker 2: of his death, to his successive thirst, his hunger, his
[30:43] Speaker 2: weight loss. Doctor Molina didn't waiver, however. She told the
[30:48] Speaker 2: jury the glucose testing had been conducted and that Benjamin
[30:51] Speaker 2: didn't have diabetes. His death wasn't the result of an
[30:54] Speaker 2: undiagnosed medical condition. She said that he was starved to death,
[30:58] Speaker 2: plain and simple. When doctor Molina stepped on, the prosecution
[31:03] Speaker 2: rested their case. Now it was the defense's turn. Cantrell
[31:08] Speaker 2: stood before the jury and made his argument. He stated,
[31:13] Speaker 2: Miranda Casseres is no monster. She loved these children. She
[31:17] Speaker 2: never withhealth food. She was a caring mother and stepmother.
[31:22] Speaker 2: He told the jury that Miranda had taken Benjamin to
[31:24] Speaker 2: doctors at least seven times since she moved in with Brandon.
[31:28] Speaker 2: To back up their claims, the defense called in their
[31:30] Speaker 2: own experts, first doctor William Anderson, a forensic pathologist, then
[31:36] Speaker 2: doctor Daniel Geepard, a pediatric expert. Both of them challenged
[31:41] Speaker 2: doctor Molina's conclusions. I don't think he necessarily starved to death,
[31:46] Speaker 2: key Harp said, it's more likely that something other than
[31:50] Speaker 2: starvation caused his demise. The defense said that Benjamin was
[31:55] Speaker 2: simply a skinny child. His weight, although shocking, wasn't that
[32:00] Speaker 2: uncommon for kids in the fifth percentile, he said. Doctor
[32:04] Speaker 2: Anderson claimed that Benjamin lacked one key symptom of starvation,
[32:08] Speaker 2: a fatty liver. He also pointed out that Benjamin had
[32:11] Speaker 2: brain swelling, but no cause had been determined. They argued
[32:16] Speaker 2: that more tests should have been conducted that starvation wasn't
[32:20] Speaker 2: the only explanation. Then the defense shifted tactics. They brought
[32:25] Speaker 2: in Miranda's family, first her mother Alice and then her
[32:29] Speaker 2: sister April. They painted a picture of Miranda as a
[32:32] Speaker 2: devoted and overwhelmed mother. They painted her not as an abuser,
[32:37] Speaker 2: but a victim. Alice insisted she loved those kids. She
[32:42] Speaker 2: was the one running that house, not Brandon. She was
[32:45] Speaker 2: traded like a slave. Her sister, April, described Miranda as
[32:49] Speaker 2: a caring parent who played with the children, cooked and cleaned.
[32:53] Speaker 2: She was simply doing her best, she said. Finally, the
[32:57] Speaker 2: defense called doctor Joanne Murphy, a clinical psychologist. She suggested
[33:02] Speaker 2: that Benjamin may have been on the autism spectrum, that
[33:06] Speaker 2: his behavior, his cries, his self harm, that the profile
[33:10] Speaker 2: of an autistic child. But under questioning, she admitted something
[33:14] Speaker 2: critical she had never actually reviewed Benjamin's medical records. Her
[33:20] Speaker 2: assessment was based only on photographs and interviews. The judge
[33:24] Speaker 2: ruled that her testimony would be limited, and after that
[33:28] Speaker 2: the defense rested their case. Both sides made their final
[33:32] Speaker 2: plea to the jury. Defense Cantrell argued that the prosecution
[33:36] Speaker 2: had tunnel vision, that they had ignored possible underlying medical issues.
[33:42] Speaker 2: The Benjamin's death was a tragedy but not a crime,
[33:45] Speaker 2: but the prosecution far back. Prosecutor Thomas Demiko reminded the
[33:50] Speaker 2: jury of the facts. The locks on the fridge, the
[33:53] Speaker 2: locks on the pantry, the locks on the children's bedroom door.
[33:57] Speaker 2: He then told them to remember Miranda's own words to police,
[34:01] Speaker 2: the videos, the photographs, the evidence. Then Prosecutor Philip Rail
[34:06] Speaker 2: drove the final meal in the coffin. You got to
[34:09] Speaker 2: meet the monster that Benji lived with, he said. The
[34:13] Speaker 2: jury then left to deliberate. They were gone for less
[34:17] Speaker 2: than an hour. The tension in the courtroom was palpable.
[34:21] Speaker 2: As they returned, they found Miranda Casseus guilty of injury
[34:25] Speaker 2: to a child causing serious bodily injury. She showed no emotion.
[34:30] Speaker 2: She didn't flinch, She just stared ahead. That's same jury
[34:42] Speaker 2: now needed to determine Miranda's sentence. Her defense attorney was
[34:46] Speaker 2: hoping that they would show her leniency. He wanted the
[34:50] Speaker 2: jury to sentence her approbation, not prison. He said that
[34:54] Speaker 2: she loved being a mother before telling the jury she
[34:57] Speaker 2: knew something was wrong she set up the doctor appointments.
[35:02] Speaker 2: He said that Miranda loved children and was a very decent,
[35:05] Speaker 2: quiet person. He then revealed that she had a tattoo
[35:08] Speaker 2: of Benjamin's birthday and his death date on her arm.
[35:12] Speaker 2: He then called Miranda to the witness stand. She was emotional,
[35:17] Speaker 2: wiping away tears as she described growing up in Pleasanton.
[35:21] Speaker 2: She said that she had been raved when she was
[35:23] Speaker 2: younger and had turned to self harm, and she moved
[35:26] Speaker 2: in with Brandon. She said that her little boy had
[35:29] Speaker 2: a great relationship with his new stepbrothers. Speaking about Benjamin,
[35:34] Speaker 2: she said, I love taking care of him. According to Miranda,
[35:38] Speaker 2: she started taking videos and photographs of Benjamin to show
[35:41] Speaker 2: Brandon his behavior. She also wanted to show child protective services.
[35:47] Speaker 2: She denied that she had abused Benjamin or starved him,
[35:50] Speaker 2: telling the jury, I didn't starve him, I didn't force
[35:54] Speaker 2: hand sanitizer. I never forced him to eat salsa. According
[35:59] Speaker 2: to Mirandah, she was under complete control of Brandon. She
[36:03] Speaker 2: accused him of spanking, hitting, and dragging Benjamin through the
[36:06] Speaker 2: house whenever he soiled his diapers. A text message was
[36:10] Speaker 2: then read aloud that Miranda had sent to her mother.
[36:13] Speaker 2: In the message, she had written, I don't know how
[36:16] Speaker 2: long I can take this this fucking kid. My son
[36:20] Speaker 2: can't sleep because of this little five year old that
[36:22] Speaker 2: everyone thinks is so perfect. I'm done. This kid needs
[36:26] Speaker 2: a good one. She denied that she had sent the
[36:29] Speaker 2: text message repeatedly, before saying that the words had come
[36:32] Speaker 2: from Brandon, who dictated what she typed.
[36:35] Speaker 1: You will not be a responsibility.
[36:40] Speaker 3: I never caused those injuries.
[36:43] Speaker 1: Again, you're not taking responsibility or indian his injuries.
[36:46] Speaker 3: Bread, Yes, because I never hit him.
[36:49] Speaker 1: Who causes injuries to Benji Dad? This is from the
[36:56] Speaker 1: gay incident too, now devout.
[37:00] Speaker 2: During prosecutor Dmiko's closing arguments, he played a video of Benjamin.
[37:05] Speaker 2: He was sitting in the dark crying, I won't bread.
[37:09] Speaker 2: Miranda could be heard saying he won't get bread and
[37:11] Speaker 2: then he needed to lie down. He then sarcastically said
[37:15] Speaker 2: to the jury, starvation will continue until the moral improves.
[37:20] Speaker 2: Why I was raised. If a child is hungry, you
[37:22] Speaker 2: feed them. During defense attorney Cantrell's closing arguments, he stated,
[37:28] Speaker 2: you made your mind up. Somebody had to pay. Do
[37:31] Speaker 2: I fault you? No, but I know it's hard. He
[37:34] Speaker 2: then urged the jury to sentence Miranda to ten years
[37:37] Speaker 2: or less, which would allow her to apply for propation.
[37:41] Speaker 2: Miranda Casseris could have been sentenced to life in prison.
[37:45] Speaker 2: The jury, however, sentenced her to twenty five years. As
[37:59] Speaker 2: Miranda was sent to begin her sentence. The trial for
[38:01] Speaker 2: Benjamin's father, Brandon Severa, began. During the opening statements, heartbreaking
[38:07] Speaker 2: photographs of Benjamin were shown to the jury. His small,
[38:11] Speaker 2: frail body was hooked up to machines in the hospital.
[38:14] Speaker 2: He was covered in bruises. Prosecutor Michael Villarel stood before
[38:19] Speaker 2: the jury and told them that Brandon had withheld food
[38:21] Speaker 2: and water from his son and had failed to seek
[38:23] Speaker 2: proper medical care for him. He stated, day in and
[38:28] Speaker 2: day out, Benji is begging for food while mister Severa
[38:31] Speaker 2: does absolutely nothing. According to Brandon's defense attorney Jody Sawyer,
[38:37] Speaker 2: Benjamin didn't actually starve to death. She said that she
[38:40] Speaker 2: was going to be disputing the pathologist's findings. She said
[38:45] Speaker 2: to the jury, what we want to know is what
[38:47] Speaker 2: everyone else wants to know. Why Benji died. It has
[38:51] Speaker 2: not been resolved by what the medical examiner tells you.
[38:55] Speaker 2: She said that Benjamin had been born premature and his
[38:58] Speaker 2: parents were told that he would have health problems. She
[39:01] Speaker 2: also said that he had been seen by more than
[39:03] Speaker 2: ten medical professionals in the lead up to his death.
[39:07] Speaker 2: The testimony got under way, and it was much the
[39:09] Speaker 2: same as the testimony at Miranda's trial. This time, however,
[39:13] Speaker 2: officer Oliver Peaz testified as well. He had been the
[39:17] Speaker 2: officer to conduct the earlier welfare check on Benjamin. He
[39:20] Speaker 2: had visible injuries live Bruisian on his eyes, bruising on
[39:27] Speaker 2: his tor zone, kain.
[39:28] Speaker 3: Of being able to see his vows.
[39:31] Speaker 2: He said he regretted not doing more during and after,
[39:34] Speaker 2: and that he should have questioned Benjamin alone. He testified,
[39:39] Speaker 2: I believe I could have done more. I wish I
[39:41] Speaker 2: could have done more. During the trial, doctor Malina doubled
[39:45] Speaker 2: Dawn on her ruling that Benjamin had starved to death.
[39:48] Speaker 2: She testified, in reviewing this case, I read numerous articles
[39:52] Speaker 2: on my training and experience on starvation. I relied on
[39:56] Speaker 2: my education and experience. She showed Benjamin's growth chart and
[40:01] Speaker 2: pointed out that he had no growth within the last
[40:03] Speaker 2: ten months of his life. She stated, when looking at
[40:07] Speaker 2: adults and assessing starvation, we can look at just weight loss,
[40:11] Speaker 2: but when looking at children, it's not just about weight loss,
[40:14] Speaker 2: but failure to grow. When Benjamin died, he had little
[40:18] Speaker 2: to no body fat and his intestinal track had no
[40:21] Speaker 2: food in it. She said that there were signs he
[40:25] Speaker 2: was malnourished, including that he had macrositic anemia and that
[40:29] Speaker 2: he had no thymus gland, which can disappear in a
[40:32] Speaker 2: child if they are under extreme stress. Defense attorney Sawyer
[40:36] Speaker 2: said during cross examination that no doctors who saw Benjamin
[40:39] Speaker 2: before his death reported that he had a vitamin deficiency.
[40:43] Speaker 2: She also questioned the pathologist on why she didn't rule
[40:46] Speaker 2: out suffocation and rhythmia as a cause of death. She
[40:50] Speaker 2: replied that there was no evidence to show that Benjamin
[40:53] Speaker 2: had died from either, but said she also couldn't dispute it.
[40:58] Speaker 2: After she stepped on the prosecution called Brandon's sister, Candice
[41:02] Speaker 2: Syrene Sanchez to the stand. She had been the one
[41:05] Speaker 2: to call the police for the welfare check a month
[41:08] Speaker 2: before Benjamin died. Candence had taken care of Benjamin for
[41:12] Speaker 2: about six months back in twenty and twenty. She told
[41:16] Speaker 2: the jury that Benjamin had been living with his biological mother,
[41:19] Speaker 2: but in twenty nineteen he'd began living with his father.
[41:24] Speaker 2: She recalled how he was aiding and growing normally. Back then.
[41:27] Speaker 2: She hadn't seen Benjamin in months, but shortly before he died,
[41:30] Speaker 2: Brandon had told her that Benjamin was hurting himself. He
[41:34] Speaker 2: told her that his son was putting things in his ears,
[41:37] Speaker 2: hitting his head against the wall, and biting his fingernails.
[41:41] Speaker 2: She testified, my reaction was something was wrong. It put
[41:45] Speaker 2: me in Mama bear mode. I was concerned. Her brother
[41:49] Speaker 2: also told her that Benjamin was aiding a lot and
[41:51] Speaker 2: always trying to find food. She questioned why if he
[41:55] Speaker 2: was being fed, was he always hungry? The prosecution and
[42:00] Speaker 2: also entered text messages into evidence. There were ones from
[42:04] Speaker 2: the twelfth of August between Brandon and Miranda. In the messages,
[42:08] Speaker 2: Brandon told Miranda that Benjamin had been begging for bread
[42:11] Speaker 2: all day. He said that he had given some, but
[42:14] Speaker 2: he wanted more. Miranda replied and told Brandon to give
[42:18] Speaker 2: him more bread. Brandon then responded, he don't need to
[42:23] Speaker 2: eat dinner. The tragic videos of Benjamin were once more
[42:27] Speaker 2: plied for the jury. One that was captured just days
[42:30] Speaker 2: before he died. Benjamin nervously asked his father for something
[42:34] Speaker 2: to eat. He had his hands folded in front of
[42:37] Speaker 2: him and his clothes hung off his frail body. He begged.
[42:48] Speaker 2: He asked for some bread, water, or milk, before crying,
[43:03] Speaker 2: I want some bread. As the video is played, in
[43:06] Speaker 2: the courtroom, many members of the jury had to look away. Brandon,
[43:10] Speaker 2: on the other hand, remained expressionless. In another video, Brandon
[43:15] Speaker 2: closed Benjamin in his bedroom and told him to shut
[43:18] Speaker 2: the fuck up.
[43:27] Speaker 1: I want to pause for a second. There appears to
[43:32] Speaker 1: be somebody at the beginning of the video, right, yes,
[43:38] Speaker 1: do you recognize that voice? Fish? Who's the defendant?
[43:42] Speaker 3: And what do you hear him say?
[43:43] Speaker 1: Shut the fuck up? Who is this individual?
[43:48] Speaker 2: During the trial, the defense team tried to show that
[43:50] Speaker 2: Benjamin hadn't been starved. They called on doctor Daniel Gepard,
[43:54] Speaker 2: the r physician who treated Benjamin the day he died.
[43:58] Speaker 2: He said he didn't believe the Benjamin looked cake from
[44:00] Speaker 2: a clinical perspective. That's a medical term referring to an
[44:04] Speaker 2: extreme loss of fat and muzzle mass. This contradicted what
[44:08] Speaker 2: the pathologist had testified unreported. It also contradicted photographs of
[44:13] Speaker 2: Benjamin looking completely malnourished, with his bones protruding from his
[44:16] Speaker 2: frail body. The doctor testified it seems like there were
[44:21] Speaker 2: people that were trying to go to conclusions that didn't
[44:24] Speaker 2: feel correct. I think it would have been unfair for
[44:27] Speaker 2: Banji to have his parents punished for something they didn't do.
[44:32] Speaker 2: After that, the trial came to a close. During closing arguments,
[44:36] Speaker 2: prosecutor Villareil stated, the system up until his death failed
[44:41] Speaker 2: Benji a month before his death. This child should not
[44:44] Speaker 2: have stayed with this defendant who was starving him. The
[44:48] Speaker 2: signs were there. He reminded the jury of the evidence,
[44:52] Speaker 2: the recordings, and asked why cameras had been set up
[44:54] Speaker 2: in the kitchen to watch Benjamin to make sure that
[44:57] Speaker 2: he wasn't stealing food. Once more, Brandon's defensed him contented
[45:02] Speaker 2: that Benjamin hadn't starved to death, that an underlying medical
[45:06] Speaker 2: condition had killed him. She stated, I'm not saying that
[45:10] Speaker 2: Brandon is a perfect parent, but what I'm saying is
[45:13] Speaker 2: the state has brought you no evidence that he was
[45:15] Speaker 2: a cruel parent, or that he was a parent that
[45:17] Speaker 2: intended in any way to deprive his child everything he needed.
[45:23] Speaker 2: The jury deliberated for almost seven hours before returning with
[45:26] Speaker 2: a verdict. The courtroom slowly filled up and then fell
[45:31] Speaker 2: to a hushed silence as the verdict was announced.
[45:34] Speaker 1: Will the jury find the defendant Brandon saveda not guilty
[45:38] Speaker 1: of the offensive injury to a child as charged in
[45:41] Speaker 1: the indictment signed by the presiding juror.
[45:46] Speaker 2: He had found Brandon severa not guilty on all of
[45:49] Speaker 2: the charges against him. As the verdict was announced, Brandon sobbed.
[45:55] Speaker 2: He was allowed to return home a free man, while
[45:58] Speaker 2: Benjamin remained in the groun. It was an unexpected outcome
[46:03] Speaker 2: outside of court. District Attorney Joe Gonzalez stated, I want
[46:08] Speaker 2: to take a moment to acknowledge the tragic loss of Benjamin.
[46:11] Speaker 2: Our hearts go out to the family, as well as
[46:14] Speaker 2: those members of law enforcement, the Bexar County District Attorney,
[46:18] Speaker 2: victim advocates, prosecutors, investigators, and all who worked to see
[46:23] Speaker 2: that Benjamin's death was not in vain and that this
[46:26] Speaker 2: community will not forget his tragically untimely loss. Well, Bestie's
[46:53] Speaker 2: That is it for this episode of Morbidology. As always,
[46:56] Speaker 2: thank you so much for listening, and I'd like to
[46:57] Speaker 2: say a massive thank you to my new supporter up
[46:59] Speaker 2: on Patreon, Paladin. The link for Patreon is in the
[47:03] Speaker 2: show notes if you'd like to join, and you can
[47:05] Speaker 2: join for as little as one dollar a month. There
[47:08] Speaker 2: are absolutely no obligations. You can cancel your subscription at
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[47:15] Speaker 2: up on YouTube, so if you could head on over
[47:18] Speaker 2: there and hit the subscribe button, I would be eternally grateful.
[47:22] Speaker 2: Remember to check us out at morbidology dot com for
[47:24] Speaker 2: more information about this episode and to read some true
[47:27] Speaker 2: crime articles. Until next time, take care of yourselves, stay safe,
[47:31] Speaker 2: and have an amazing week.

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