First of all how old was he on Dec 31? How much income did he have? Yes he still gets a Standard Deduction but it is limited.
The Standard Deduction for an individual for whom an exemption can be claimed on another person's tax return is limited to the greater of:
…..$1,250 or
…..Your earned income for the year + $400 (but not more than 13,850))
So you would get a minimum of $1,250.
See Table 8 Standard Deduction worksheet for Dependents on Page 26
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf
