Dallas-area pastor gets 99 years in boy’s starvation death

Prosecutors say a woman who operated a church at her Dallas-area home must serve 99 years in prison for her role in the 2015 starvation death of a toddler allegedly to rid him of a “demon.”

The Dallas Morning News reports jurors Friday convicted 52-year-old Aracely Meza of felony injury to a child causing serious bodily injury.

Investigators say Meza acted as a pastor in the unaffiliated church, she and the 2-year-old boy’s parents allegedly believed he had a “demon” inside him and that fasting would save him.

Prosecutors believe Benjamin Aparicio was denied food for more than three weeks before his March 2015 death.

The criminal investigation began when police received a tip that congregants held a failed resurrection ceremony before the parents took the body to their native Mexico.