A Texas stepmother convicted of starving a 5-year-old child was sentenced to 28 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of causing serious bodily injury to her stepson.
Tammi Bleimeyer, 38, was sentenced on Monday. In 2014, police discovered the starving child in a level of malnourishment compared to that of a "Holocaust survivor," he weighed 29 pounds when he was rescued. Bleimeyer hid the boy inside a crawlspace the family called the "Harry Potter room," deprived him from food, and forced him to sleep on a concrete floor.
Prosecutors said the boy was sometimes given a slice of bread that was snatched away from him if he took long to eat. They requested Bleimeyer remain in prison long enough until her youngest child would be at least 18 years when she is released.
