Trial opens; son charged in mom's death

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A jury is in place and the trial under way Tuesday in the case of a 45-year-old man accused of running down his mother as she lay on a stretcher, about to be taken to a hospital.

The 72-year-old woman died that night, and her son, Shaun David Samuelson, is on trial, charged with murder - intentionally causing death.

On the evening of Sept. 29, Austin police and emergency medical workers were treating Virginia Samuelson at the intersection of Lamar Boulevard and Lamar Square Drive. Police said she was injured by her son, Shaun David Samuelson, at that location during a fight about money. She suffered injuries to her face and neck, according to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services workers who responded to the scene.

EMS was taking photographs of Virginia Samuelson's injuries as she lay on a gurney, when they heard the sound of a truck accelerating toward them. The vehicle did not slow down and collided with the gurney, dragging the woman and the gurney beneath the truck for about 30 feet.

At the time, police said Shaun Samuelson got out of the vehicle and ran, but officers caught up to him.

EMS workers were taken by surprise at the incident, and many were upset about the sequence of events that happened as they treated Virginia Samuelson.

“This was a horrible sequence of events for the people who loved her but also for the emergency workers who tried everything to save Virginia and instead had to watch her be run over and killed," Cmdr. Julie O'Brien said at the time.

According to public records, the family had a history of violence. A protective order was filed in 2006 after an incident wherein Shaun Samuelson was accused of hitting his mother in the head with a metal rod after an argument concerning the remodeling of his condominium.

The case is before Judge Jim Coronado in the 427th Criminal District Court.