Lauren Prather, 39, accepted a plea deal this week in the 75th State District Court in Liberty County for the April 14, 2021, murder of her father, 62-year-old Dennis Claude Huff. With the 75th State District Court currently without a judge, visiting 411th State District Judge Kaycee Jones presided over the proceedings.
Prather admitted to fatally shooting Huff in his home at 151 CR 6507 in the Winter Valley Subdivision of Dayton. As part of the plea agreement, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison and must serve at least half of that sentence in prison before becoming eligible for parole. The state had been preparing to take the case to trial when Prather and her attorney agreed to the plea.
What led to the shooting remains unclear. Prosecutors only know that Prather had a gun and told her young son to go into another room and lock the door. She then woke her father, who had been sleeping on the couch.
According to Anna Emmons, first assistant district attorney for the Liberty County District Attorney’s Office, Prather claims Huff stood up and demanded to know why she had woken him, then poked his finger in her chest before she shot him. Investigators later found Huff’s body near the couch.
Prather, who was living in Waskom, Texas, at the time, was taken into custody without incident the following day at a residence in Crosby. Authorities also recovered the weapon used in the shooting. The murder was first reported to authorities by Huff’s son, who dialed 911 to report that his father had been shot. The case was investigated by the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division and the Texas Rangers.
Emmons said the resolution provides closure for Huff’s family while also sparing Prather’s son from having to testify against his mother.
“Ms. Prather had no criminal history and has a history of mental health issues, though it did not rise to the level of a criminal defense,” Emmons said. “While this was clearly a murder, there is no denying her struggles with mental health. The family found closure in the defendant’s decision to accept a plea and waive her right to appeal. Other family members are now caring for her child, and this resolution helps prevent him from having to continue reliving the situation and testifying in court.”
During the plea proceedings, one of Huff’s daughters and two of his siblings delivered victim impact statements. They told Prather how she had taken away their father and best friend, without considering the lasting impact on the entire family. They spoke of the pain of no longer being able to stop by his house to visit and urged her to use her time in prison to reflect on her actions.
Throughout their statements, Prather remained stoic, showing no outward emotion.
Nutso! Anna Emmons makes $175k as first assistant to handle 5 cases a year, yet she plead every murder to 20 to 30 years. Liberty deserves better
I’m confused, did she shoot her husband or her father? Who ever wrote this says in the title she shot her father. Then it said she told her young son to go to another room. But her son call 911 to report his father was shot.