Jury selection to start in Texas ‘Baby Grace’ case

The Democrat welcomes comments. Inappropriate language or comments outside our standards will be removed. No guest or anonymous comments allowed.

January 26, 2009

Jury selection to start in Texas ‘Baby Grace’ case

Anonymous The Weatherford Democrat Mon Jan 26, 2009, 10:13 AM CST

GALVESTON (AP) — A mother accused of brutally beating her 2-year-old daughter to death and then dumping her in Galveston Bay faces life without parole if convicted of capital murder in the “Baby Grace” case.

Jury selection was to begin Monday in the trial of 20-year-old Kimberly Dawn Trenor, the mother of a toddler known as “Baby Grace” after her remains were found more than a year ago.

Prosecutors say Trenor and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, tortured Riley Ann Sawyers to death in July 2007 during a discipline session that went horribly wrong. They are accused of then putting the body in a plastic container and hiding it for a month or two in a storage shed at their home in the northern Houston suburb of Spring before dumping the remains in the bay 70 miles away. A fisherman found the container on a tiny island about a mile from shore in October 2007.

Trenor’s attorney, Tommy Stickler Jr., said his client is not responsible for Riley’s death and puts the blame on Zeigler.

According to the arrest affidavit, Trenor said she and Zeigler used two leather belts to beat Riley and held her head under water. But she claims it was Zeigler, the child’s stepfather, who grabbed Riley by her hair and flung her across a room onto a tile floor.

An autopsy concluded Riley died when her skull was fractured in three places.

Zeigler’s attorney, Neal Davis III, points the finger at Trenor. Zeigler will be tried later.

Trenor and Zeigler are being held in the Galveston County Jail under bonds of $850,000 each.

Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk declined comment about the case before the trial starts.

The toddler was given the name “Baby Grace” by authorities during the weeks they worked to identify her badly decomposed remains.

The break in the case came when an Ohio woman named Sheryl Sawyers saw an artist’s sketch of the girl, believed it was her granddaughter Riley and called authorities.

Trenor had moved with Riley from Mentor, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb, to Texas in June 2007 to be with Zeigler, whom she met playing an online game, World of Warcraft.

Riley’s murder and its investigation got much media coverage and both prosecutors and defense attorneys are expected to thoroughly question the 150 member jury pool. Jury selection was expected to take a day with opening statements on Tuesday.

“No matter how big and tough you are, the death of a child grabs you a little bit more,” said Tim Miller, director of Texas EquuSearch, a volunteer search organization that helped in the investigation.

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.

Trenor pleaded guilty last week to a charge of evidence tampering and will be sentenced for that after her murder trial.

Prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty against either her or Zeigler, 25, because they didn’t think they could prove that the pair would be a future danger, a requirement for such a punishment.

In June 2008, Trenor gave birth to a boy, Shawn, while awaiting trial. The baby is living in the Dallas area with distant relatives of Trenor, who relinquished her parental rights. Zeigler has not relinquished his rights, child welfare officials said.

Text Only

AP Story Section

Inside bin Laden’s lair with SEAL Team Six
WASHINGTON (AP) — So much could have gone wrong as SEAL Team Six swept over Pakistan’s dark landscape, dropped down ropes into a compound lined by wall after wall, exchanged gunfire and confronted “Geronimo” face to face. The vital things went right.
Just about every contingency the 25 commandos trained for came at them, rapidly, chaotically and dangerously, in their lunge for Osama bin Laden.

May 5, 2011
WWII pilot gets Distinguished Service Cross BOSSIER CITY, La. (AP) — A Texas man nearing his 90th birthday has been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his part in a daring 1943 attack on Nazi-controlled oil fields in Romania.
February 3, 2009
Ohio dad who shock-collared kids gets 16 years XENIA, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for disciplining his children with a dog shock collar.
February 3, 2009
Cop suspected in wife’s vanishing loses new love BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (AP) — A woman who became engaged to a former suburban Chicago police sergeant suspected in his wife’s 2007 disappearance moved out of his home Friday, hours after he spoke about his current and past relationships on a national television show.
February 3, 2009
Pythons found after brief escape from Calif. home SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — A 23-foot, 130-pound python can run but it can’t hide.
February 3, 2009
Bush first visit to future Dallas home DALLAS (AP) — Former President George W. Bush has made his first visit to the $2.1 million Dallas house that he’ll soon call home.
January 28, 2009
Doctor says octuplets appear healthy BELLFLOWER, Calif. (AP) — Newborn octuplets in Southern California are a feisty bunch that appear healthy even at nine weeks premature, a doctor said Tuesday.
January 28, 2009
Austin program works to restore wildlife habitat AUSTIN (AP) — Patricia Roberts-Miller says her yard was a boring swath of grass when she and her family moved into their North Austin home three years ago.

January 28, 2009
TI to shed 3,400 jobs by September Texas Instruments Inc., which makes chips for cell phones and other gadgets, said Monday it will cut 3,400 jobs because demand has slackened amid a slowing economy.
January 27, 2009
Elder Bush: Son held to principles after attacks NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former President George H.W. Bush says he’s proud of how his son held to his principles during his presidency and kept the U.S. safe after the 2001 terror attacks.
January 27, 2009
More AP Story Section Headlines

If you are a registered voter in the Weatherford ISD, and either have voted or plan to vote Saturday, are voting for or against the proposed $107.32 million bond?