HOUSTON – A man accused of injuring his girlfriend’s child, which authorities said led to the child’s death three years ago, was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Wednesday.
Austin Reid plead guilty to two counts of injury to a child earlier this year, but shortly afterward, he slipped out of his ankle monitor and ran away to Colorado. Reid will face charges in Colorado, including at least five felonies.
The Colorado police sergeant who arrested Reid testified on Wednesday, saying that she was called to a gas station for a man trying to steal a vehicle. When she met Reid, she testified he gave her two fake names and assaulted her when she tried to arrest him.
While on the bench, the officer said that it took her about eight minutes to arrest him because he ran and didn’t listen to any of her commands.
The sergeant’s body camera was played in court; in it, Reid was heard telling the officer, “You’re going to have to kill me. Pull lethal.”
Ultimately, the sergeant was able to arrest Reid with the help of two truck drivers.
“I think that was the mail in the coffin,” said Prosecutor Gilbert Sawtelle on Reid running to Colorado. “It was the final straw because that was a complete disregard for the freedom the court allowed him for that moment to be on bond. He disrespected the court orders. He was being selfish and that plays into this overall theme that I presented to the judge. In every opportunity he only cares about himself.”
The child’s mom, Emily Aust, faces two counts of injury to a child. Her next court appearance is in August.
“Children are the most innocent and vulnerable people in our community, and when a child abuser hurts, maims and kills them, we work hard to get justice for the victims and their family,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “This child abuser deserves to spend decades, and hopefully the rest of his life, in prison.”
Assistant District Attorney Gilbert Sawtelle, a chief in the DA’s Child Fatality Division, said Reid had a long pattern of violence against people, including his father, stepfather, both of the children and even against an inmate in the Harris County Jail.
“He chose drugs and violence over family and the people who loved him,” Sawtelle said. “These are horrific and unthinkable crimes, and he deserves to be sentenced to 50 years.”
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2019 and 2020
On Oct. 6, 2020, Reid and his girlfriend, Emily Aust, were both charged with two counts of injury to a child after being accused of beating and burning Aust’s 2-year-old toddler in 2019.
Reid and Aust came under suspicion in May 2019 when Aust’s 2-year-old son Lucas Saroma was rushed to Texas Children’s Hospital after being left alone with Reid, according to court documents. He told police he had left Saroma in a partially filled tub and came back to find him unconscious.
The problem with that story, according to prosecutors, is that the child wasn’t wet when medics found him and his injuries were extensive, including bleeding in his brain and cigarette burns.
Prosecutors wanted to charge Reid with murder, but couldn’t because the medical examiner’s office was unable to determine a cause of death.
Also, later in 2019, while the investigation into the abuse of the 2-year-old was still ongoing, Aust gave birth to a second son. The newborn was also severely injured shortly after being born, according to authorities. Reid allegedly claimed the infant was injured when he stuck his arm through a laundry basket. But doctors discovered the baby’s elbow was broken and dislocated.
That baby was placed with a foster family in 2020. He has since been adopted and had his name changed.
