Man sentenced to 20 Years in Death of Girlfriend’s Son While Mom Receives Slap on the Wrist
February 5, 2018
- The Case of Undisclosed victim, 2
- Suspects Austin T. Stonbarger, Ambuhr M. Lause
Union, MO – On February 3, 2018, police were called to a home on Henry Drive in Union, Missouri, after a 2-year-old boy was found unconscious and not breathing. When officers arrived, they found the child suffering from extensive injuries across his body. Despite attempts to revive him, the child was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators quickly focused on the child’s mother’s boyfriend, Austin T. Stonebarger, 23, who had been caring for the boy for much of the day. Stonebarger initially provided inconsistent accounts of how the child had been injured, according to police. He later admitted to pushing the child, causing him to strike his head. He also admitted that he had caused bruising to the child the day before while disciplining him.
Police said Stonebarger told investigators he had been using methamphetamine for several days before the child’s death.
The boy was found with numerous injuries, including bruising to his head and other areas of his body. Court records later revealed the child had also suffered a moderately sized full-thickness burn on his leg that was classified as a third-degree burn, as well as a second-degree burn on the back of his neck.
The child was initially given CPR at the scene before being transported to Mercy Hospital Washington, where medical staff pronounced him dead. The cause of death was determined to be massive internal injuries and head trauma, according to court documents.
Stonebarger was arrested and initially charged with first-degree murder and held in the Franklin County Jail on $500,000 cash-only bond. In July 2023, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Because of the circumstances surrounding the crime, court documents state he must serve 85 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole, meaning he will spend at least 17 years incarcerated. He was also facing criminal charges of domestic assault, drug paraphernalia possession, driving while intoxicated and stealing.
The child’s mother, Ambuhr Lause, 25, was also charged in connection with her son’s death. Prosecutors accused Lause, who was living with Stonebarger at the time, of endangering the welfare of a child for her role in the events leading up to her son’s death.
Neighbors later described the couple’s behavior as concerning in the months before the child’s death. Vincent Bess, who lived nearby, told reporters that the pair appeared to have frequent activity at their home at unusual hours.
“They just seem like squirrely folks,” Bess said. “They were always in and out all times of the day.”
Bess said he believed their behavior was unpredictable and that police visits to the home seemed inevitable.
“With their erratic behavior and stuff like that, it was just a matter of time before police had to be over here for one reason or another,” he said.
Another neighbor, Brittany Morgan, said she was shocked by the child’s death.
“The loss of a child is the worst thing on the planet,” Morgan said. “So to have it happen, what, three doors down from me is just awful!”
Lause pleaded not guilty in October 2023 in Franklin County Circuit Court. She faced a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. A bench trial was scheduled for June 2024.
The case against Lause centered on whether she failed to protect her son from the abuse that ultimately led to his death. While Stonebarger admitted to physically harming the child, prosecutors argued that Lause’s actions and decisions as the child’s mother played a role in allowing the abuse to continue.
The death of the 2-year-old boy exposed a pattern of violence and neglect that investigators said occurred inside the Union home, resulting in criminal charges against both adults responsible for his care.
In June 2024 Lause pleaded guilty to first-degree child endangerment relating to the murder of her 2-year-old son and received a five-year suspended imposition of sentence.
