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Jury convicts Baby Grace's stepdad

FYI.

Jury convicts Baby Grace's stepdad
He gets life in prison without parole for child's killing
By HARVEY RICE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 7, 2009, 1:42AM
photo
Associated Press


GALVESTON — Royce Clyde Zeigler II stood stoically Friday as he heard
the verdict finding him guilty of capital murder in the slaying of his
2-year-old stepdaughter, who became known as Baby Grace, but it hit his
mother like a thunderbolt. Surrounded by grim family members and
friends, Nellie Zeigler slumped sobbing on the courtroom bench,
muttering, “I just don't understand.”

The jury of nine men and three women deliberated for four hours and 20
minutes before delivering their verdict to state District Judge David
Garner. Zeigler, 26, was automatically sentenced to life in prison
without parole. His wife, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 21, was convicted of
capital murder in February for assisting him in the slaying of her
daughter, Riley Ann Sawyers, and is serving the same sentence.

Although prosecutors had no direct evidence proving that Zeigler killed
Riley, jurors in the end were swayed by Zeigler's failure to call police
or 911 as she lay dying on the floor of his Spring home July 25, 2007.

“It was more the omission than the commission,” said juror Michael
Austin, 56, of Friendswood.

Defense attorney Dee McWilliams said he and fellow defense attorneys
Neal Davis III and Dena Fisher were crushed by the verdict.

“To say that we are disappointed is an understatement,” McWilliams said.
“When we took this case, we knew it was a long hill to climb, but we
take responsibility as well.”

The bleak mood of Zeigler's family and attorneys contrasted with the
sense of relief expressed by prosecutors and Riley's paternal
grandmother, who testified for the prosecution during the eight-day trial.

“We got justice for her today,” said Sheryl Sawyers of Mentor, Ohio.

Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said, “For all of us
involved it's a good day, but most of all for Riley and those that love
her.”

Prosecutors portrayed Zeigler as helping his wife kill his stepdaughter
during a cruel disciplinary session and then concocting elaborate lies
to help cover up the slaying and dispose of the body.

The defense countered in final arguments that Zeigler was a good man who
had nothing to do with Riley's death but loved his wife so much that he
helped her pack Riley's body in a box and eventually toss it into
Galveston Bay.

The arguments were made with dramatic flourishes by both sides.

“If you've never seen the face of a man who killed a child, get a good
look,” Sistrunk said as he pointed to Zeigler . Causing a loud bang by
kicking the blue plastic box that Riley's body was found in, and
scattering dirt from it onto the courtroom floor, Sistrunk said, “It's
not the state's fault that there was 12 pounds of rotting flesh in this
box.”

Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen held up a photo of the blond,
blue-eyed girl, saying, “This is the Riley that came to Texas.” Then
Allen held up a photo of Riley's skull with three fractures. “In six
weeks, this is what they reduced her to,” she said.

Defense attorney McWilliams told jurors, “This young man no more killed
that child than the man in the moon.”

Fisher pointed to the character witnesses, who said Zeigler was
incapable of killing Riley. Fisher said Zeigler was only trying to
protect his wife. “Something horrible happened that day, and Royce tried
to fix it,” she said.

“The person who did this, they tried and convicted of capital murder,
and she's sitting in prison right now,” McWilliams said.

Zeigler met Trenor when he was 24 and she was 19 while they were playing
the Internet game World of Warcraft.

He married her June 1, 2007, after spending a week with her, then moved
her and Riley from Ohio to Texas.

Zeigler admitted in a videotaped statement that he helped pack Riley's
body in plastic bags and a blue box, which was placed in a garage
storage room, where prosecutors believe it stayed for up to two months.
Zeigler said he and Trenor drove to the Galveston Island railroad
bridge, where he tossed the box into Galveston Bay.

A fisherman found the box washed ashore on an island in west Galveston
Bay Oct. 29, 2007. Investigators named the then-unidentified child Baby
Grace.

Trenor became pregnant before her arrest and gave birth to a boy before
her trial. The child was placed in the custody of family members.

Zeigler and Trenor fabricated a number of lies about Riley's death, the
most elaborate that an Ohio welfare worker barged into their house while
Trenor was alone with Riley, knocked Trenor down and abducted the child.

Trenor then wrote a fake letter with an Ohio state letterhead saying
that the child was taken because of accusations by the paternal
grandmother in Ohio that she had been molested by Zeigler.

harvey.rice@chron.com

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