Moment cops visit boy, 4, with black eyes weeks before he died of starvation

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: A boy starved by his parents was found with black eyes and protruding bones by law enforcement officials who performed a welfare check weeks before his death

This is the moment cops visited a four-year-old boy who died of starvation just weeks after they found him with black eyes and protruding bones.

Young Benjamin Cevera was shown to jurors in a clip dated to July 2021, where the frightened child was seen starving and with black eyes. The police bodycam footage shown to the court in San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday, was part of the child abuse trial against Benjamin's father, Brandon Cevera.

The little boy, affectionately nicknamed Benji by his loved ones, died less than a month after police discovered the child. He weighed just 28 pounds at the time of his death. Family members allegedly forced the boy to drink hand sanitizer and eat breadcrumbs off the floor of the family bathroom without using his hands.

Benji's dad and stepmom Miranda Casarez, 25, can be seen claiming to cops making a welfare call that the youngster self-harmed in shocking bodycam footage revealed in court. Brandon told police his son "pokes his eyes and he pokes his ears." Stepmom Casarez was sentenced to 25 years in prison earlier this year for abusing Benji, and was heard speaking in the bodycam footage also.

"He has behavioural issues," she said. "He gets up at night and he goes into the kitchen and eats." Gauze was also seen protruding from Benji's ears, while the boy was also filmed asking his father for food. It has since been revealed the four-year-old was the only member of the family to not have his own bed and was instead locked in his room where he slept on mattress with a urine-soaked blanket.

He was also prevented from using the fridge and kitchen cabinets, which were padlocked to stop him from getting food according to the San Antonio-Express News. Officer Omar Perez has since told the court when they made a welfare check, Benji was so skinny they could "see his bones."

Officer Perez said: "He had bruises on his eyes and torso and he was skinny ... able to see his bones." EMS called to the scene to check Benji's vitals and said they were normal though Perez was told to call child protective services and fill out a report. Just 25 days later and Benji was dead. Brandon Cevera denies causing injury to a child and faces life in prison if convicted.

The trial is set to resume on Monday.