A Texas mother has been sentenced by a judge to 40 years in prison for her role in the abuse of two children, a toddler and a newborn, beginning in 2019, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Wednesday.
“Texas laws give the same range of punishment for an abuser and for cases like this where a parent consciously and repeatedly puts a child in harm’s way by leaving them with an abuser,” Ogg said. “This was not a one-time mistake or some awful accident, this was a pattern of intentional abuse. The children in our community deserve better.”
Emily Aust, 30, and her boyfriend, Austin Reid, 25, were arrested in 2020 as police and prosecutors investigated what happened to Aust’s two children: a two-year-old who died and a newborn who was seriously injured.
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In the first case, Lucas, Aust’s two-year-old son by another man, was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital after being left alone with Reid on May 19, 2019. Reid was the primary caregiver and informed doctors that Lucas drowned while playing in the bathtub. However, the child’s numerous bruises and injuries, including cigarette burns, indicated repeated child abuse. Lucas was pronounced dead in the hospital.
When Lucas died, Aust was pregnant with Reid’s son, who was born in late December. Reid took the baby to the hospital five weeks after birth for a dislocated elbow. X-rays revealed that the newborn had a brain bleed and other head trauma, most likely from being violently shaken. The baby has been taken into custody by authorities investigating the case.
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The Houston Police Department investigated both Reid and Aust before arresting and charging them with child abuse. Scene photos from their apartment show a drug house unfit for a child, complete with drug paraphernalia such as spoons coated in white powder, lighters, and packs of synthetic marijuana.
Assistant District Attorney Gilbert Sawtelle prosecuted both cases, saying Reid admitted to using meth, marijuana, and Xanax when both children were injured. In court, Aust admitted to using drugs and that her drinking and drug abuse worsened after her first child died.
“All of this happened because she allowed it to happen by ignoring the constant signs of child abuse, including the death of her first child,” Sawtelle said. “If authorities hadn’t taken away the baby, he likely would have suffered the same fate because nothing changed, and nothing was going to change.”
Reid pleaded guilty in both cases in July and was sentenced by a judge to 50 years in prison.
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Aust pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced last week to two separate sentences of 40 years in prison, one for each child. Those sentences will run concurrently. She cannot appeal the conviction or the punishment, and she must serve at least half of the sentence before she will be eligible for parole.
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