LOCAL WOMAN UP FOR PAROLE IN DAUGHTER’S DEATH

  

A Brenham woman, convicted and sentenced to 20 years in the death of her 4-year old daughter, could be paroled after serving nine years of her sentence.

In 2010, Abigail Young was found guilty of Injury to a Child by Omission.  Young’s boyfriend Lucas Coe was sentenced to life in prison for causing the death of 4-year old Emma Thompson.

According to the medical examiner, Thompson suffered 80 contusions, a fractured skull, a brain hemorrhage and a vaginal tear.  The autopsy also reports that before she died, she was hit in the abdomen by an “unknown object,” causing blunt force trauma that led to the 4-year old’s death.

In 2013, Emma's Law was passed.  It ensured that Young would not come up for parole every year. Instead the parole board could choose to review it every five years.  However, now because Young has served nearly half her sentence, she's eligible for yearly reviews.

The paternal family of Emma Thompson is fighting to keep Young behind bars.  Laurie Thompson, Emma’s grandmother says,  "That's a slap in the face to us as a family and to anyone who has suffered a loss like ours."

Andy Kahan, Director of Victims Services at Crime Stoppers, says “there’s no reason this should come up every year.”  He says the parole hearing is “a waste of everybody’s time.”

Kahan says he plans to start working to get another law passed to make sure more cases don't fall into the same loophole.