She whipped kid & dunked her in cold water - US mum on trial for killing 2-year-old daughter

She whipped kid & dunked her in cold water - US mum on trial for killing 2-year-old daughter
January 31, 2009

EVEN the most grizzled investigators were reduced to tears by the disturbing details of the death of 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers.

The blonde little girl's decomposed body was found stuffed in a plastic container in Galveston Bay in Texas after she had been brutally beaten.

Police believe that she had been abused by her parents, who had allegedly lashed at her with leather belts, dunked her head under water, and flung her around.

All because she forgot to say 'please'.

Her parents, 20-year-old Kimberly Dawn Trenor and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 25, are now accused of beating the toddler to death in July 2007.

After the gruesome discovery in Galveston Bay, the toddler was dubbed 'Baby Grace' until authorities were able to identify the tiny remains as Riley Ann.

'I saw a lot of real tears from a lot of old-time, seasoned detectives who took this home with them every night,' said Mr Tim Miller, director of Texas EquuSearch, a volunteer search organisation that helped in the investigation.

Details on the case came to light after Trenor, who is now on trial for the killing, gave investigators a vivid description of the brutal discipline session on 25 Jul, 2007 to teach Riley good manners that led to her death.

Trenor and Zeigler met playing an online video game and married in June 2007 after Trenor moved with her daughter to Spring, a suburb north of Houston, from Mentor, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

Galveston County Sheriff's Department Sgt Elias Cazares told jurors he found a notebook in the couple's home that listed nine ways to improve Riley's behaviour.

Called 'Rules for Riley,' the list included 'being polite,' 'behaves in public' and 'listen to mum & me.'

Trenor told police the beating began during a discipline session when Riley Ann forgot to say 'please' and 'yes, sir' to Zeigler, her stepfather.

In her statement, Trenor admitted to whipping Riley with a belt and helping to repeatedly dunk her head in a bathtub of cold water.

Skull fractures
But she said the three skull fractures that resulted in the toddler's death were caused by Zeigler when he threw the child across a room in their home after getting frustrated that the discipline session wasn't working.

A prosecutor told the court that Riley had tried to stop her mother and stepfather from beating her to death by reaching out to her mother and saying, 'I love you'.

After Riley was killed, the couple bought a plastic container, partially filled it with cement, stuffed her beaten body inside and stored it in a shed at their home before dumping the remains in Galveston Bay in September 2007, according to authorities.

Fisherman Robert Spinn, who found Riley's body, testified he was on his boat fishing in October 2007 when he spotted the container on a small island in the bay about a 1.6km from shore.

Mr Spinn said at first he thought the stench coming from plastic bags inside the container was from a deadpet.

'I ripped the bags open with some fishing pliers. I saw a shoe. I knew it was a person,' he said.

The weathered container, which was full of chunks of rock and concrete, as well as the clothes and shoes Riley wore, were shown to jurors on Wednesday.

The toddler's identity was a mystery for weeks until Riley's paternal grandmother in Ohio, Mrs Sheryl Sawyers, saw an artist's sketch of the girl and told authorities in Texas she thought it was her granddaughter.

Mr Kenneth Jones Jr, a reserve deputy for the Texas Department of Public Safety, testified that the tip from Mrs Sheryl Sawyers led him to talk with Zeigler and Trenor.

He eventually discovered they had invented a story that Riley had been taken away by child welfare officials in Ohio.

If Trenor is found guilty of murdering her daughter, she could receive an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole.

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

'It is a small relief to hear Ms Trenor is taking some responsibility for her role in this tragedy,' said Ms Laura DePledge, an attorney for the Sawyers family, referring to Trenor's admission that she tampered with evidence.

'Most of the shock having passed, the family has been focused on dealing with their loss. The onset of trial, however, will force them to relive the trauma and expose them to extraordinary pain again.'

Zeigler is scheduled to go on trial at a later date.

Both are being held in the Galveston County Jail under bonds of US $850,000 each.

Riley's Island
To remember the dead toddler, the island where the her body was found was officially renamed 'Riley's Island.'

A wooden cross bearing a plaque with her name was placed there as a memorial, but Hurricane Ike washed it away on 13 Sep.

Mr Miller, who made that cross, said he is making a new one and hopes that he and Riley's family can place it on the island at the end of Trenor's trial.

'It's sad the cross is gone. But as much damage as the hurricane did, I was afraid the whole island would be wiped away,' he said.

'God did not want that to happen. The cross will be put there again in her honor.'

AP

Source: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,191299,00.html?