Man sentenced to 25 years for nearly starving infant son

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A Tulsa man was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison for allegedly nearly starving his infant son.

Bennie Douglas Price, 24, pleaded guilty to a child-injury charge that involved an allegation that Nathan Price suffered brain damage because he didn't get enough food.

Nathan Price weighed more than 8 pounds when he was born on Sept. 8, 1999, but police reported he weighed almost one pound less than that when his mother took him to the hospital as a 5-month-old.

Upon admission to the hospital, the infant had a body temperature of 93 degrees and was "dehydrated and malnourished to a near lethal level," said an affidavit by police Detective Darren Carlock.

Price told police he withheld food from Nathan "because he wanted his wife to stay home with the children, instead of going to work and school," Carlock reported.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in a trial for Stephanie Price, Nathan's mother, on a charge of permitting the boy to be injured.

Stephanie Price, 24, has filed for divorce from Bennie Price and her attorney said she did not know about her husband's scheme.

Nathan is in the custody of the Department of Human Services.

The Prices were arrested Feb. 17. Bennie Price spent more than eight months in jail, while his wife was released on $50,000 bail in March.