Suspect who pleaded guilty to injuring 2 children on the run after slipping out of his ankle monitor

ByMiya Shay KTRK logo

Friday, March 3, 2023

Deer Park man slips out of ankle monitor days before his sentencing

Austin Reid had already pleaded guilty to injuring two children, one of whom died in 2019. He is currently nowhere to be found just days before he was to be sentenced for the two first-degree felonies.

DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) -- A Deer Park man who had already pleaded guilty to charges of injury to a child slipped out of his ankle monitor and is nowhere to be found.

Austin Reid recently pleaded guilty to two counts of injury to a child stemming from cases that date back to 2019. One of the children, 2-year-old Lucas, died from his injuries.

Reid and his girlfriend, the mother of the two kids, were both charged.

Authorities say Reid slipped out of his ankle monitor apparently sometime Tuesday night and left his father's home, where he was living.

When ABC13 visited the home Thursday afternoon, Reid's father greeted us at the door and confirmed his son had taken off. He is hoping Reid is located.

"I hope he's found and brought to justice," Darlene Scrivner, Lucas' grandmother, said.

Since the little boy's death in 2019, Scrivner has worked continuously to bring the suspects to justice.

"The injuries that were all over his body - there was no way this was an accident in any way, and we do not want it to be looked at as an accident," Scrivner said.

Scrivner, Reid's appointed defense attorney, and prosecutors all expected him to show up for sentencing. After all, he had already pled guilty to two first-degree felony charges.

"This is rare. It doesn't happen very often," Gilbert Sawtell, the prosecutor on the case, said. "All accounts suggested he was going to show up the day of sentencing, and there wouldn't be any issues."

Meanwhile, Lucas' mom, who is facing the same two charges, remains in jail. She has not pleaded to anything. Prosecutors say there is now a warrant out for Reid.

"We really don't have much of a lead other than he was last seen at a school in Pasadena driving a dark 2000 Ford Expedition," Sawtell said, adding that the Texas City Dike and Galveston are possible locations they are searching.

The other little boy, Lucas' half-brother, recovered from his injuries. He is now 3 years old and with a loving adoptive family.

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