According to the district attorney’s office, the youngster will never fully regain sight in her left eye and may have permanent brain damage.
Prosecutors say the jury heard from doctors who reported the girl had multiple skull fractures, bleeding on her brain, a badly lacerated liver, two broken ribs, and a previously broken arm.
The jury also heard that a twin brother also had a skull fracture.
The children were adopted by another family.
The father, 28 year old Kevin Lucien, will serve 30 years before he becomes eligible for parole.
The mother, 27 year old Markisha Burton of Bryan, is finishing a two year prison sentence for endangering a child.
Click below for comments from assistant Brazos County district attorney Ryan Calvert, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver:
News release from the Brazos County district attorney’s office:
A Brazos County jury sentenced Kevin Lucien, 25, of Bryan, to Life in prison Wednesday evening after a convicting him of Injury to a Child.
The charge stemmed from physical abuse that Lucien inflicted on his infant daughter.
On November 15, 2015, three month-old Elizabeth Lucien was brought to the St. Joseph’s Hospital Emergency Room by Lucien and the child’s mother, Markisha Burton.
Lucien told hospital staff that he was watching Elizabeth, and her twin brother, Deon, while Burton was away from home.
Lucien reported that Elizabeth rolled off of a bed and fell to the floor.
Prosecutors called both the nurse and doctor that treated Elizabeth at the St. Joseph’s ER. Each testified that they noticed bruising to both sides of Elizabeth’s head, as well as on her face.
They felt that those injuries were not consistent with a short fall from a bed. They also noted that because Elizabeth was three months old, and was born prematurely, she was not yet capable of rolling herself over. Thus, the medical staff felt Lucien was lying.
Doctors performed a CT scan on Elizabeth and found her to have multiple skull fractures, and bleeding on her brain. Doctors also found a healing broken arm that had occurred weeks prior to the head injuries.
Elizabeth was immediately flown via helicopter to Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin.
ER staff called the Bryan Police Department and Detective Matt Miller responded to the hospital and interviewed Lucien. Lucien again said that Elizabeth rolled off the bed.
When Detective Miller confronted Lucien with the medical evidence, Lucien changed his story and said that Elizabeth had been in a seat on top of a table and he accidentally knocked her to the ground while he was dancing.
During the trial, prosecutors called pediatric specialists from Dell Children’s Hospital who testified that Elizabeth suffered severe skull fractures, bleeding throughout her brain, massive retinal hemorrhaging, two broken ribs, and a badly lacerated liver, as well as the previous broken arm.
Doctors at Dell Children’s also requested to examine Elizabeth’s twin brother, Deon. A CT scan revealed that Deon also had a skull fracture.
Prosecutors charged Lucien with Intentionally or Knowingly Causing Serious Bodily Injury to a Child, which carries a punishment range from a minimum of probation to a maximum of Life in prison.
Elizabeth continues to recover from her injuries, but will never fully regain sight in her left eye and may have permanent brain damage.
Both Elizabeth and Deon have since been adopted by another family and their names have been changed.
Markisha Burton told police that November 15, 2015 was the third time Elizabeth had shown injuries after being in Lucien’s care.
Prosecutors subsequently charged her with Endangering a Child for continuing to leave the children with Lucien.
She is currently serving a two year prison sentence.