Texas woman sentenced to life in prison for starving stepson to death

By Marice Richter DALLAS (Reuters) - A Texas woman was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison for her role in starving her 10-year-old stepson to death and then dumping his body in a creek bed. Elizabeth Ramsey, 33, was found guilty on Tuesday by a Dallas County jury in the death of Johnathan Ramsey in 2011 and given the life sentence by the same jury, which deliberated for an hour on her punishment. Ramsey's lawyers had asked jurors to find her guilty of a lesser charge, arguing that the boy's father and her husband, Aaron Ramsey, forced her to participate in the crime and prevented her from contacting law enforcement officials to save Johnathan. Aaron Ramsey was sentenced to life in prison last year in the boy's death. Prosecutors have said the couple were equally culpable for Johnathan's death. Relatives testified on Wednesday that Johnathan was a sweet-natured, imaginative boy. The boy's skeletal remains were discovered in April 2012 after a month-long search. He had been dead about seven months. At the time of their arrest, the couple confessed to the locking the boy in a bedroom of their Dallas home and feeding him only bread and water as punishment for misbehavior. Elizabeth Ramsey must serve 30 years before she is eligible for parole. (Reporting by Marice Richter; Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Peter Cooney)