R. Zeigler & K. Trenor - murder of "Baby Grace"
'Baby Grace' Murder Suspect's Parents May Get Custody of Newborn CPS to Conduct Lengthy Home Study on Family Last Edited: Monday, 30 Jun 2008, 3:03 PM CDT Created: Monday, 30 Jun 2008, 3:03 PM CDT HOUSTON -- The parents of a man accused of beating to death the 2-year-old girl once known as Baby Grace could get custody of his newborn son this week. The parents of Royce Zeigler II expressed their interest in raising the child because Zeigler and the baby's mother, Kimberly Trenor, are both jailed on charges of capital murder. Trenor was apparently already pregnant by her boyfriend Zeigler, when the two were accused in the death of toddler Riley Ann Sawyers, whose body washed ashore in a container Galveston Bay last October. Investigators say that when the girl died on July 25, Trenor and Zeigler put her body in a container and threw it in Galveston Bay. Trenor admitted in November that Riley Ann was beaten with leather belts, had her head held underwater in a bathtub and then was thrown across a room, her head slamming into a tile floor. The state now has custody of the newborn, and caseworkers were ordered Monday morning to complete a home study of the baby's paternal grandparents by July 2nd. If the state finds the home suitable, the judge says the Zeiglers should get custody on July 3rd. http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6881238&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Grand Jury Indicts 'Baby Grace' Suspects with Capital Murder Last Edited: Wednesday, 12 Dec 2007, 5:16 PM CST Created: Wednesday, 12 Dec 2007, 1:17 PM CST HOUSTON -- A grand jury has indicted the mother and stepfather of 'Baby Grace' with capital murder charges. Royce Zeigler II and Kimberly Trenor originally were facing injury with a child charges, but after Trenor had admitted last month she and Zeigler had killed Riley Ann Sawyers, also known as "Baby Grace," prosecutors sought capital murder charges. The Galveston County District Attorney's Office hasn't determined whether it will be seeking a death penalty. Zeigler and Trenor were arrested last month after a police began investigating the Oct. 29 discovery of a container with the body of a little girl stuffed inside of it on a small island off of West Galveston Bay. On Nov. 24, Trenor confirmed that "Baby Grace" was her daughter. When police obtained DNA results Nov. 30, Sawyer's DNA test matched that of her parents. Trenor said Sawyers was beaten with leather belts, had her head held underwater in a bathtub and then was thrown across a room, her head slamming into a tile floor. When she died, Trenor and Zeigler put her body in a container and threw it in Galveston Bay. http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5198294&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Stepfather in 'Baby Grace' Killing Will Not Face Death Last Edited: Wednesday, 16 Apr 2008, 11:44 AM CDT Created: Wednesday, 16 Apr 2008, 11:44 AM CDT HOUSTON -- The stepfather charged with killing a toddler known around the world as "Baby Grace" will not face the death penalty, an official with the Galveston County District Attorney's Office told FOX 26 News on Wednesday. The capital murder trial for 24-year-old Royce Clyde Zeigler II is scheduled to begin Nov. 3. Zeigler's wife, Kimberly Trenor, 19, is also charged with capital murder. A hearing will be heard Thursday to determine if she could face the death penalty. The couple originally faced charges of injury to a child , but after Trenor admitted in November that she and Zeigler killed Riley Ann Sawyers, who was known as "Baby Grace," prosecutors sought capital murder charges. "Baby Grace" was found stuffed inside a plastic storage container that was discovered on a remote island in Galveston Bay by fisherman on Oct. 29. Trenor said Sawyers was beaten with leather belts, had her head held underwater in a bathtub and then was thrown across a room, her head slamming into a tile floor. When she died on July 25, Trenor and Zeigler put her body in a container and threw it in Galveston Bay. Zeigler and Trenor both remain in jail on a $750,000 bond each. http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6322618&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

Mother Of 'Baby Grace' Enters Plea POSTED: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 UPDATED: 10:23 am CST January 21, 2009 HOUSTON -- A woman accused in the beating death of her 2-year-old daughter, dubbed "Baby Grace," has pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence but innocent of capital murder charges. Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 20, and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 25, are accused of beating Riley Ann Sawyers to death July 25, 2007 in their home in the Houston suburb of Spring. Trenor told police the child died after a disciplinary session veered out of control. Trenor said the couple hid the body in a shed for two months before dumping it in Galveston Bay where a fisherman later found the body inside a box. The then-anonymous girl was dubbed "Baby Grace." Trenor and Zeigler were each charged with capital murder and tampering with physical evidence. Trenor was arraigned Tuesday before Galveston County District Judge David Garner. On Wednesday, lawyers were to begin winnowing down a pool of 1,200 potential jurors. Trenor's murder trial is scheduled to begin next week, once a final jury is selected. That jury will decide whether she is guilty of capital murder and sentence her on the charge of tampering with evidence. She faces two to 20 years in prison for tampering, and life in prison if convicted of capital murder. Trenor and Zeigler remain in the Galveston County Jail in lieu of $850,000 bail each. Zeigler is being tried separately and his trial date has not been set. http://www.click2houston.com/news/18528005/detail.html

Prosecutor: Slain toddler said 'I love you' at end By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press Writer Juan A. Lozano, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 50 mins ago GALVESTON, Texas – A slain toddler tried to stop her mother and stepfather from beating her to death by reaching out to her mother and saying, "I love you," a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday. The pleas from 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers didn't stop her mother, Kimberly Trenor, from continuing to brutalize her, assistant district attorney Kayla Allen said in her opening statement at Trenor's murder trial. But defense attorney Tommy Stickler Jr. told the jury that Trenor, 20, never intended to kill her daughter in 2007 and that things just "spun out of control." The toddler was dubbed "Baby Grace" by investigators who worked to identify her decomposed remains after the body was found in a plastic container in October 2007 on a tiny island in Galveston Bay. Trenor's 25-year-old husband, Royce Zeigler II, is to be tried separately on murder charges. His attorney points the finger at Trenor. Prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty because they didn't think they could prove that either one would be a future danger, as required. During her opening statement, Allen detailed for jurors the day that she said Riley Ann died for forgetting to say "please" and "yes, sir." Allen said that on July 25, 2007, Trenor and Zeigler disciplined Riley by whipping her with a belt, pushing her head against a pillow and holding her head under water. She said Zeigler grabbed Riley and tossed her across the room, fracturing her skull. An autopsy concluded the skull fractures caused her death. "To the very end, Riley said, 'I love you' to her mom. She's reaching out," Allen said. "That's her lifeline, to her mother. What does Kim do after hearing her say I love you? She starts beating her." Allen said the adults did nothing to help even as Riley lay dying. She said the pair bought a plastic container, stuffed Riley's body inside and stored it in a shed for a month or two before setting it out to sea, prosecutors said. Stickler portrayed Trenor as a scared 19-year-old girl who had moved to Texas from Ohio to marry a man she met while playing an online game. She said Riley's father, her former boyfriend, had assaulted her and Zeigler was her "knight in shining armor, her Texas cowboy." "I don't want to use the word accident, but this wasn't something that was intentional," Stickler said. Trenor could receive an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder. The jury could also convict her of a lesser charge. Riley's remains were unidentified for weeks until an Ohio woman, Sheryl Sawyers, saw an artist's sketch and told authorities she believed the girl was her granddaughter. Sawyers' son is Trenor's ex-boyfriend. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090127/ap_on_re_us/child_s_remains

:evil: I hope that pyscotic ***** from hell hears that in her head everyday for the rest of her worthless life. She was a BABY for pete's sake!!!! :evil:

Tuesday, Feb. 03, 2009| Comments (0) | Recommend (0) Texas jury convicts mother in 'Baby Grace' slay By JUAN A. LOZANO - Associated Press Writer GALVESTON, Texas -- When 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers' badly decomposed remains were found inside a plastic box in October 2007, investigators promised they would do at least one thing for the toddler. "That we would find the people responsible for her death and bring them to justice and we did," said Galveston County Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Barry. A jury on Monday convicted Riley's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, of capital murder for the little girl's death. The child had been whipped with belts and flung across a room like a rag doll before her body was dumped in Galveston Bay. Until her remains were identified, she was dubbed "Baby Grace" by investigators. Jurors deliberated less than two hours before reaching a verdict. The conviction brought an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. Prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty against either Trenor or her husband because they didn't think they could prove that the pair would be a future danger, a requirement for such a punishment. "All of us involved in this case from the beginning have been waiting for this day for some time," Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said after the verdict. Trenor and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, were accused of killing the toddler in July 2007. Prosecutors said Trenor and Zeigler beat Riley with belts, dunked her head in cold bath water and threw her onto a tile floor, fracturing her skull and causing her death. Zeigler, also charged with capital murder, is being tried later and remains jailed. After Riley's death, the couple stuffed her body in a plastic box and hid it in a storage shed at their suburban Houston home before dumping it in the bay, according to authorities. It took weeks for investigators to identify her remains. Many of those investigators cried after hearing the verdict read in the courtroom. Trenor's defense attorney, Tommie Stickler Jr., had implored jurors during his closing arguments on Monday to not let emotion control their decision. "I'm not going to say the jury did or didn't put away their emotions," he said. "I don't think anybody could have put them aside." The jury foreman, Randall Rothschild, said emotion did not play a role in the verdict. "Justice is served," he said. Riley's identity was a mystery for weeks until her paternal grandmother in Ohio, Sheryl Sawyers, saw an artist's sketch of the girl and told authorities in Texas she thought it was her granddaughter. "For Sheryl it's difficult. She looked at Kimberly as a daughter," said Laura DePledge, an attorney for the Sawyers family. "It's a victory for Riley but it's another loss for Sheryl and the Trenor family." Sheryl Sawyers as well as Trenor's parents were in the courtroom when the verdict was read but did not speak with reporters afterward. During closing arguments Monday, prosecutors called Trenor a cold-blooded liar who ignored her daughter's pleas to stop the abuse. Trenor admitted disciplining the child but blamed 25-year-old Zeigler for throwing Riley across the family room and causing the skull fractures. Stickler said Trenor never intended to kill her daughter and painted a picture of a frightened 18-year-old at the time of Riley's death who was being controlled by her husband. http://www.bnd.com/news/state/story/640562.html