DALLAS, April 17 (UPI) -- The trial of a man accused of starving his son to death and dumping the 11-year-old boy's remains in an Ennis County, Texas, creek began Wednesday in Dallas.
Aaron Ramsey was charged with injury to a child and faces life imprisonment in the death of his son, Johnathan. The trial of the boy's stepmother, Elizabeth Ramsey, on similar charges has not yet begun, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The father and stepmother confessed to locking Johnathan in a bedroom for months at a time, and feeding him bread and water, police said, adding they believe the boy died in August 2011.
His remains were found in April 2012.
At the trial, defense attorneys cross-examined Edward Ramsey, Johnathan's grandfather, who said he repeatedly asked to see his grandson, only speaking with him by telephone as his stepmother was "over his shoulder making sure he said the right things."
Edward Ramsey said he demanded to see Johnathan in March 2012, and when he was rebuffed, went to his son's father-in-law, who told him the boy was not Aaron Ramsey's biological son, and that "he (the father-in-law) said Johnathan moved to New Mexico."
Prosecutors noted at, at that point, the boy had been dead for six months.
