HOUSTON (AP) _ A jury has found a Houston-area man guilty of raping his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter shortly before her death last year.
The panel deliberated 3 1/2 hours Tuesday before convicting 28-year-old Lucas Coe of Spring of super aggravated sexual assault of a child.
Prosecutors tell the Houston Chronicle they didn’t charge Coe in the girl’s death because the elevated assault charge could lead to a stiffer sentence. He faces up to life in prison in the penalty phase, which begins Wednesday.
Coe’s lawyers argued that the girl suffered vaginal trauma from a straddle fall.
An autopsy found that Emma Thompson had a severed pancreas and fractured skull. Her mother, Abigail Young, is serving 20 years in prison for injury to a child by omission.
Young is a former Brenham resident.
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