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A Galveston jury deliberated for about an hour and a half before returning a guilty verdict in the capital murder case against Kimberly Dawn Trenor. 20-year-old Trenor will spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Trenor admits to beating little Riley, but claimed not to have delivered the fatal blow. She claimed her husband, Royce Zeigler – who faces trial later this year – ultimately killed Riley.
The County Medical Examiner, Stephen Pustilnik testified any reasonable person could have seen Riley had been affected by having her head hit the floor and was in need of medical attention.
DA Kurt Sistrunk, during closing arguments, slammed his fist against a table over and over telling jurors, that was the sound Riley's skull made when her head was slammed against the tile floor.
Trenor’s attorney, Tommie Stickler, said Trenor was a scared 18-year-old who was afraid of and controlled by her husband.
Stickler presented only one defense witness, a co-worker of Royce Zeigler. He testified he believed Zeigler seemed to be controlling of his wife.
Trenor did not take the stand in her own defense.
What was probably the most disturbing and damming evidence available to the jury was Trenor’s handwritten journal (Caution – disturbing content):
"I just kept hitting her with the belt again and again. I don't know how long, but I remember her trying to get away and me knocking her back down."
"I told her to stand up and face me, but she couldn't stand up," "She was black and blue from head to toe, barely able to squeeze my fingers. All I could do was hold her and feel her go cold."
Trenor showed no emotion as the verdict was read, however many of the jurors and investigators who spent weeks trying to identify ‘Baby Grace’ wiped tears from their eyes.
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~Little
Riley Ann Sawyers
‘Baby Grace’ was a beautiful 2-year old with long blonde hair and dressed in a size 2T pink outfit. She had little white sneakers with purple accents and lights built into them. Nobody knew who she was when her little remains, stuffed into a plastic container, washed up in Galveston Bay last October.
In November, Riley’s paternal grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, called the sheriff’s office after she saw a sketch of Baby Grace. The nation learned that ‘Baby Grace’ was Riley Ann Sawyers and her mother Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, and her stepfather Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, had beaten her to death on July 24.
Trenor told investigators that she and her husband had beaten Riley with two leather belts. They also held her head underwater in the bathtub and Zeigler picked her up by her hair and threw her across the room, slamming her head into a tile floor.
The autopsy found that Riley had three skull fractures on the back of her head.
The parents also allegedly smothered the girl by pushing her face into a pillow in her room and into the cushions of a couch.
Trenor told investigators that during the beating, her husband gave the little girl child’s pain medication and covered her with a purple towel after she was dead.
That evening, the couple went to a local Wal-Mart and bought a blue plastic storage container. The plastic bin that contained the child’s body was kept in a storage shed in the backyard of their home for one to two months before they transported Riley’s remains and tossed them into the water near the Galveston Causeway.
The capital murder case against Kimberly Trenor began Tuesday. Ziegler will be tried separately.
During assistant district attorney Kayla Allen’s opening statements, the jury was told that Riley tried to stop her mother and stepfather from beating her to death by reaching out to her mother and saying, "I love you.” Allen also said Riley died for forgetting to say "please" and "yes, sir."
Testimony revealed that Trenor and Ziegler developed a list of things Riley needed to learn in order for her to “behave” better.
Rules for Riley – (1-6 were handwritten by Zeigler and 7-9 written by Trenor.)
1. being polite
2. Listen to mom & me
3. sleep @ 8 pm
4. nap @ 2 pm
5. toys stay in her room
6. puts toys back where she go em
7. behaves in public
8. never alone in our room
9. chocolate/cake or treats only as a reward
10. (was written in, but nothing was written beside it)
FBI forensic document examiner, Gabriel Watts, also told jurors that suicide notes were written on the same page.
To Whom It May Concern
I Royce Zeigler II leave my property to Kimberly Tenor Zeigler my wife. I take my own life because of guilt for past sins which I have confessed before I took my life. My wife Kimberly Zeigler is innocent and lived in fear … because of thought of what I would do to her. Also my family can go burn in hell for their stress that they've caused. So here I take my own life.
Sincerely,
Royce Zeigler II
Trenor wrote the following.
My heart is black dead. I can't live with myself after Riley. I go to be.
Kimberly Zeigler
Further evidence submitted to the court includes receipts from Wal-Mart for the items purchased by Trenor and Ziegler the night of July 24.
Receipt #1
- Shovel
- Kilz cement
- Trash bags
- Rubber gloves
- Two respiratory masks
- Duct tape
- Anchor chain
Receipt #2
- Latex gloves (small and large sizes)
- "Head to Toe"' baby wash
- Two bottles of bleach
- Large storage container (included child safety warning)
Sources
Galveston Daily News
ABC 13
Fox News
Click 2 Houston
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