HOUSTON (AP) _ A jury has sentenced a Houston-area man to life in prison without parole for raping his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter shortly before the girl died last year.
Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos said 28-year-old Lucas Coe was given the maximum sentence Thursday, which included a $10,000 fine.
Coe was convicted Tuesday of super aggravated sexual assault of a child, an elevated charge that requires him to serve the entire sentence. Prosecutors say they didn’t pursue a murder charge because the assault conviction potentially carried a stiffer sentence.
Prosecutors say evidence showed Emma Thompson had about 80 bruises, a skull fracture and torn genitalia after the attack in June 2009. She died later at a hospital.
The girl’s mother is serving 20 years in prison for injury to a child by omission. Abigail Young is a former Brenham resident.
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