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25-year-old sentenced to life in prison for causing life-long injuries to 3-month-old daughter

Posted at 1:08 PM, Jul 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-19 14:11:20-04

A 25-year-old Bryan man was given the maximum sentence of life in prison after he was convicted of causing injury to his 3-month-old daughter on Wednesday night.

The Brazos County District Attorney's office said Kevin Lucien severely abused his infant daughter, causing her permanent damage.

The District Attorney's Office said on November 5, 2015, 3-month-old Elizabeth Lucien was brought to the St. Joseph's Hospital Emergency Room by her father, Lucien, and mother, Markisha Burton.

Lucien told hospital staff Elizabeth rolled off a bed and fell to the floor while he was watching the infant and her twin brother Deon when their mother was away from home.

The nurse and doctor who treated Elizabeth each testified they noticed bruising on both sides of the infant's head. They believed those injuries were not consistent with a short fall from a bed.

It was added that due to Elizabeth's age and that she was born prematurely, she was not able to roll herself over yet.

A CT scan was performed on the infant and it was found she had multiple skull fractures. Doctors additionally found a healing arm that had broken weeks prior to the head injuries. 

After the scan, Elizabeth was immediately flown to Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin.

ER staff called the Bryan Police Department to the hospital. Lucien reiterated to detectives that Elizabeth rolled off the bed, but when confronted with the medical evidence, he changed his story to say Elizabeth had been in a seat on top of a table and he accidentally knocked her to the ground while he was dancing.

Pediatric specialists from Dell Children's Medical Center were called to testify during the trial. They stated that Elizabeth suffered severe skull fractures, bleeding throughout her brain, massive retinal hemorrhaging, two broken ribs and a badly lacerated liver, on top of the previously broken arm.

Doctors at the hospital also requested to examine her twin brother Deon, who also suffered a skull fracture. 

Burton told police that November 15, 2015, was the third time Elizabeth had shown injuries after being in the care of her father. She was then charged with endangering a child for continuing to leave Elizabeth and Deon under Lucien's care.

Burton is currently serving a two-year prison sentence.

"The very hands that should have nurtured and cared for baby Elizabeth throughout her life became weapons that very nearly beat the life from her body," Assistant District Attorneys Ryan Calvert and Natalie Tise said in a joint press release. "Extreme violence against infant children demands extreme justice.”

The District Attorney's Office said while Elizabeth has continued to recover from her injuries, she will never fully regain sight in her left eye and may have permanent brain damage.

The twins were both adopted by another family and their names have since been changed.

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