Mom charged with murder in girl's death

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A mother whose 4-year-old twin daughter died in a Northwest Austin car crash has been charged with murder.

Shea Lynn Goss, 31, of Pflugerville, also faces two new charges: Two counts of aggravated assault.

Goss was previously charged with intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault because her other children were hurt in the wreck that happened around 3 p.m. Feb. 19. Police said the original charges were upgraded to the new charges.

According to arrest warrant affidavits, Goss was driving with three children aboard when she veered from the road that afternoon and crashed into a tree in the 12500 block of Riata Vista Circle near Parmer Lane.

All the children -- a 5-year-old boy and twin 4-year-old girls --  were taken to Dell Children's Medical Center, some with life-threatening injuries such as broken ribs and a severely cut spleen. Goss was taken to a hospital in Round Rock for a broken ankle.

Police said one of the twins died at the hospital a few hours later; the rest of the children are expected to recover from their injuries.

According to the affidavit, police tried to interview Goss at the hospital but found her unresponsive and incoherent. Prescription medicine bottles of muscle relaxants and pain medication were reportedly found in her car. She told police she was seeing a doctor for chronic pain in her head and back.

The bottles were labeled with stickers warning that they could cause drowsiness and that should not be taken before driving.

Bail was set at $500,000 on the intoxication manslaughter charge and $150,000 for each of the intoxication assault charges.

In-Depth: DWI tests turning up more than alcohol

Earlier this month, KXAN reported on how the crime lab at the Texas Department of Public Safety is seeing more DWI blood alcohol samples where prescription drugs, like Soma, are also present.

DPS doesn’t keep data on specific drugs, so it cannot break down whether there are more prescription drug-abuse cases. However, the lab is seeing some of the more common drugs, said DPS spokesman Tom Vinger.

In that report, Austin Recovery Nurse Manager Debbie Hooks said it's common for people to self-dose when the physician's prescribed dose for pain management is no longer working.