Son found guilty of capital murder in mother's death
Shaun Samuelson, accused of killing his elderly mother by running her over with his truck in South Austin, was found guilty of capital murder Wednesday morning.
Samuelson’s conviction carries with it an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Police said Samuelson’s 72-year-old mother, Virginia Samuelson, suffered injuries from a home disturbance with her son on Sept. 29 of 2011. She sought help at a gas station on South Lamar Boulevard. Emergency crews responded to the gas station and strapped the 72-year-old to a stretcher.
According to police, officers and medics then saw a truck, driven by Shaun Samuelson, driving towards them at “high speed.” The truck struck the back of the ambulance and then began to drive away, with the stretcher holding the elderly woman stuck to the bottom of the vehicle, before it was stopped by police.
Virginia Samuelson was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to his arrest affidavit, Samuelson told officers during questioning that he was “going to spend the rest of his life in jail” because he “killed his mom.”