PASADENA, Texas (TCD) — A 30-year-old mother will spend four decades behind bars in connection with the abuse of her two young children that began in 2019.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Feb. 21 that a judge sentenced Emily Aust to 40 years in prison after she pleaded guilty in November 2023 for her role in the abuse of her newborn and the death of her toddler, 2-year-old Lucas Samora. She was given two separate sentences and cannot appeal the conviction or punishment. Aust will have to serve at least half of her prison sentence before she is eligible for parole.
According to the district attorney’s office, on May 19, 2019, Samora was brought to Texas Children’s Hospital with many bruises and injuries, including cigarette burns. Samora had reportedly been left alone with Aust’s boyfriend, 25-year-old Austin Reid, who was not the boy’s biological father.
Reid told doctors Samora “drowned while playing in the bathtub.” However, the district attorney’s office said Samora’s injuries suggested repeated child abuse.
The toddler was pronounced deceased at the hospital.
At the time of Samora’s death, Aust was pregnant with Reid’s child, and she gave birth in December 2019 via cesarean section. While she was recovering, Reid reportedly took care of the baby boy. In January 2020, Reid brought the 5-week-old newborn to the hospital for a dislocated elbow.
According to the district attorney’s office, X-rays revealed the baby sustained multiple injuries, including a brain bleed, broken arm, and burns on his fingertips. The infant also suffered head trauma, “likely from being violently shaken.”
Authorities took custody of the newborn as they investigated the case, and Houston Police arrested the couple for child abuse in 2020.
According to the district attorney’s office, investigators reviewed scene photos from the couple’s apartment showing drug paraphernalia, such as spoons with white powder, lighters, and synthetic marijuana.
Authorities said the residence was “a drug house unfit for any child.”
Reid admitted that he used meth, marijuana, and Xanax when the toddler and newborn sustained their injuries, according to Assistant District Attorney Gilbert Sawtelle.
Aust also reportedly confessed to using drugs. Her drug abuse and drinking allegedly worsened after Samora’s death.
Sawtelle said in a statement, “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.”
Reid was reportedly released on bond with an ankle monitor and fled to Colorado. According to the district attorney’s office, he lied to local law enforcement, claiming to be his younger brother, and he allegedly assaulted a police officer.
Reid was extradited back to Harris County, and in July 2023, he pleaded guilty in both cases and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He will have to serve at least half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
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.”
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