The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-08-09
ANOTHER HORRORl
THE BIDEL TRAGEDY CAST INTO
THE SHADE.
A Mother Stamps the Life Out OF
Her Four Year Old Child.

The vicinity of Oatmanville seems
to be a chosen spot for brutal muir
ders. Here it was the young Mexican
killed in cold blood the little girl and
boy as they were on their way home
from school, the details of which are
still fresh in the public mind; but
heartless and cruel as was the murder
er Y bera. the act of the murdereSS, who,
last Sunday, murdered her little girl,
is tenfold more so. The woman
bears the name of Minnie Lucas, and
lives not far from Oatmanville. or did,
for she is now living behind the iron
CRATES of the county Jail.
The facts in regard to the fiendish
affair, as learned by STATESMAN re-
porter, are these: Sunday, Mrs. Win
ME Lucas went to nelghbor's, who
lives on the farm Of Squire Pace, and
stated to this negro family that her
little girl, four years old, had been bit
ten by tarantula, and she was fear
full she would not live. Parties went
to see the child, and among them DR..
Stovall, and, to their horror, they
found the little girl dead
not from a spider bite, but
dead from terrible bruises. There
were four of these upon the head,
any of which would have been GER
tain death; another on the breast that
would have been fatal in and of itself,
and another still upon the back just
as murderous. In fact, the dead
child was found to be literally pound
ed into jelly. When the parties
made this discovery they interro-
gated the mother as to who had been
at the place, and she promptly an
swered that no one had been there but
herself. 1t became evident that she
was the person who had beaten the
little thing in this barbarious man
ner. Justice Pace accordingly called
an inquest, and the facts in regard to
the dark deed were Investigated. DR..
! Stoval testified to the character of
the wounds he found upon the body,
ana the horrible manner of the child's
| death, as shown by the undesputable
evidence the body exhibited when
found. He and other parties gave
evidence as to the story
told by Mrs. Lucus about
the child having been bitten by a
spider, and her statement that no one
had been at her place except herself.
| This evidence, of course, fixed the
murder upon the woman, and would
be enough to send the fiend to the
galloWS; but more horrible than all
was the evidence of little sister of
the murdered child, who, when queS-
toned apart from her mother, stated
that she saw her mother kill the girl.
She was terribly frightened at first,
and stated that her mother had told
her she would serve her in the sam G
| oh FOL hot hn AnI 20
her sister. The child was assured
that her mother would not be allowed
to serve her in that way, and when
this had been impressed upon her
mind she freely and candidly-in the
simple story of child-recited the
inhuman acts of her mother. She
stated that her mother got angry
at her sister over some trivial matter
and, in rage, took her into the yard
near tree and threw her with great
violence against it several times; then
she took her to the house and laid her
on the floor, and, after doing that, she
jumped upon her with her feet and
actually stamped the poor, mangled
body into the horrible condition in
which it was found. Then, after she
had done that, she said to the
corpse: There, you little ID,
Pm rid OF you, any way" or
words to that effect. She then showed
the mangled corpse of the child to
her other children and told them to
look at it, saying in the same connec-
ton 1.-The first one who tells what l
have done will be served in the same
way" and instructed them to say the
dead girl had been bitten by spider
and that that was the cause Of her
death. Mrs. Lucus was at once ar
rested and is now in the county
jail to answer for this terrible
crime. She is negress and has
lived some time in that neighborhood.
1t is seldom that newspaper is called
upon to chronicle crime so revolving
in his horrid details as this one is,
and if the woman is found to be guilty
she should be hanged. Even that is
too good for her.