BABY GRACE - Riley Ann Sawyer

[Nut44x4]

Man says he dumped Baby Grace's body, didn't kill her
Comments 5 | Recommend 0
October 29, 2009 7:56 AM

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - A man accused of slaying his 2-year-old stepdaughter put her body in the trash and dumped in it the Galveston Bay - but he didn't kill her, his lawyer told jurors on Wednesday.

Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 26, is charged with capital murder in the death 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, whose body was discovered in a plastic box on an island in the bay in 2007. Before her remains were identified, Riley was called "Baby Grace" until news accounts helped relatives in Ohio recognize and identify her.

Zeigler's wife and Riley's mother, 21-year-old Kimberly Dawn Trenor, in February was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors allege that the couple beat the child and threw her to a tile floor, which fractured her skull.

During Wednesday's opening statements, defense attorney Neal Davis III said his client walked into the family's home in Spring, a Houston suburb, to find his wife with her unconscious child in July 2007.

"He put her in a trash bag and in another container and put it in the bay," Davis told jurors.

"There is not one iota of evidence that Royce Zeigler knowingly, intentionally or in any way caused the death of Riley Sawyers," Davis said. "He is not only not guilty, he is innocent."

But Galveston County prosecutor Kayla Allen told jurors that Zeigler lied repeatedly to investigators, giving them conflicting statements on the girl's death.

"Royce Clyde Zeigler and Kimberly lied to everyone they could lie to," Allen said. "They lied to their family, co-workers and police over and over."

Prosecutors showed the Galveston County jury, made up of nine men and three women, video of Zeigler admitting to dumping the child's body in Galveston Bay, the Galveston County Daily News reported.

After their arrests, Trenor and Zeigler offered contradictory statements. Trenor said in a videotaped statement that Zeigler stayed home from work July 25, 2007, to make sure Riley was properly disciplined. She said she and Zeigler beat Riley with a belt, held her head under bath water and smothered her with a pillow.

Zeigler, in his first interview, said Riley disappeared after an Ohio welfare worker snatched her from his home. He abandoned the story in his second interview. Asked repeatedly during the first interview if Riley was Baby Grace, Zeigler said, "I swear to God I do not know that." In his second interview, he acknowledged that Riley was Baby Grace.

An autopsy determined that the child died of two skull fractures. Prosecutors have 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.

"You'll see at the end of the trial Royce Zeigler is full of nothing but lies, and that he and his wife murdered Riley Ann Sawyers," Allen said.

As with Trenor, Galveston County prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty for Zeigler.

http://www.kfdm.com/news/-34921--.html

[MuffyBee]

http://news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=257094

Testimony begins in second ‘Baby Grace’ trial
10/29/2009 10:15 AM
By: Associated Press

GALVESTON, Texas -- Prosecutors showed a Galveston County jury video of the stepfather of the girl known as “Baby Grace” admitting to dumping her body in Galveston Bay.

Jurors viewed the video after hearing opening statements from prosecutors and attorneys for Royce Clyde Zeigler II. He's charged with capital murder in the death of two-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers.

The unidentified body of the young girl was discovered in a plastic box on an island in Galveston Bay in 2007. She was called “Baby Grace” until news accounts helped relatives in Ohio recognize and identify her.

Defense attorney Neal Davis III told jurors that Zeigler is guilty of concealing evidence, but not of killing the girl. But prosecutor Kayla Allen said Zeigler gave investigators conflicting statements on the girl's death at the couple's home in the Houston suburb of Spring.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6692591.html
Grandmom defends daughter at 'Baby Grace' trial
By HARVEY RICE Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 29, 2009, 5:07PM
GALVESTON -- The woman Royce Clyde Zeigler II accuses of killing his 2-year-old stepdaughter during a disciplinary session never beat her daughter before marrying Zeigler, the girl’s grandmother testified today during the second day of Zeigler’s capital murder trial.

The testimony by Sheryl Sawyers of Mentor, Ohio chips away at Zeigler’s assertion in taped interviews with investigators that Riley Ann Sawyers, known as Baby Grace until her body was identified, died at the hands of her mother, his wife, while he was in another room.

Sawyers testified that Riley and her mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 21, lived with her for the first two years of Riley’s life. Riley died about a month after her mother took her to Texas, where Trenor married Zeigler after a whirlwind courtship.

Trenor never used corporal punishment to discipline her daughter, Sawyers told the nine men and three women jurors and Disrict Judge David Garner. Sawyers said she never saw Trenor get upset when Riley misbehaved or threw a tantrum. "I never saw Kimberly really get upset about anything," Sawyers said.

Trenor, serving a life sentence after her capital murder conviction in February, said in a videotaped statement that Zeigler, 26, stayed home from work the day Riley died, July 25, 2007, to make sure she was properly disciplined. Trenor said Riley was beaten with a belt, her head held under bath water and a pillow placed over her face. Zeigler hurled Riley against a tile floor, Trenor said.

The medical examiner testified during Trenor’s trial that any one of three fractures in Riley’s skull could have caused her death. As in Trenor’s trial, Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk is not seeking the death penalty.

Zeigler said in two videotaped statements he gave to investigators that he helped put Riley’s body in plastic bags placed in a blue plastic box. He said Trenor placed the box in a storage room, where investigators believe it remained for as long as two months.

Zeigler said he tossed the box off the Galveston Island railroad bridge.

The fisherman who found the box on an island in West Galveston Bay testified today exactly two years later, about his surprise after opening the box and cutting through plastic bags to find a little girl’s shoe. Robert Spinn said his first reaction was "a little bit of disbelief."

"I called my wife first for just a reality check," Spinn said, before dialing 911.

A Galveston County sheriff’s deputy testified that Zeigler used selective memory when being questioned about Riley’s death, and carried on with a normal life after the corpse was hidden in his garage storage room.

Asked if Zeigler’s inability to remember details about the death of Riley Ann Sawyers — who became known as Baby Grace after her initially unidentified body was found — was poor memory or lies, Lt. Tommy Hansen said, "Lies, to minimize his involvement in the crime."

Hansen, under questioning by Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk, also pointed out contradictions in Zeigler’s videotaped interviews.

Zeigler told investigators he had threatened to leave Trenor the night before Riley died. He later said he was ready to kill himself and deflect the blame from Trenor. Hansen asked why he would kill himself for someone he was ready leave.

He also said that Zeigler went to work the day after Riley’s death and appeared to resume a normal life. In the tapes, Zeigler said it was very difficult to work knowing that his stepdaughter’s death was being covered up.

Defense attorney Dee McWilliams challenged Hansen’s assertion that Zeigler assumed a normal life after Riley’s death. McWilliams said Zeigler was taking psychotropic medication and tried to kill himself, showing that he was greatly affected by his predicament.

Hansen also testified that Zeigler had complained during the interview that Riley had a severe disciplinary problem. He said he was in another room when Riley was beaten and had no part in her death. Sawyers testified that Riley had no abnormal disciplinary problems.

Hansen said investigators found no evidence that Trenor used corporal punishment to discipline Riley while she and her daughter lived in Ohio.

harvey.rice@chron.com
************************************
Read the comments.  People are outraged, as well they should be, imo. MB

[cookie]

this makes me so angry!!!  the mom is as guilty as the step dad imo!!

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20091101/NEWS01/911010347
TEXAS JURY SHOWN HOW TOT'S DEATH ALLEGEDLY HIDDEN

November 1, 2009
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- A Texas jury has heard from a department store worker who displayed replicas of items prosecutors say were used to conceal the murder of a 2-year-old girl.
Gloria Escobedo's testimony came Friday as prosecution testimony continues in the capital murder trial of Royce Clyde Zeigler II. He's charged in the 2007 death of stepdaughter Riley Ann Sawyers, known as "Baby Grace" before her remains were identified by Ohio relatives.

Wal-Mart worker produced receipts showing $87 in cash transactions for such purchases as a storage box, cleaning supplies, a shovel, cement and an anchor chain.

Zeigler's attorney argues that his client threw the child's decomposing corpse into Galveston Bay, but no evidence exists to show that his client killed the girl The child's remains were found washed up on an island in Galveston Bay.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.cayleedaily.com/2009/10/baby-grace-trial-grandmother-faces-accused-killer-in-courtroom/
Baby Grace Trial: Grandmother faces accused killer in courtroom
Thursday, October 29, 2009
By Express

GALVESTON — On the two year anniversary of the discovery of Riley Ann Sawyer’s body hidden inside a blue box on an island in Galveston’s West Bay, the little girl’s grandmother faced accused killer Royce Clyde Zeigler II for the very first time.

Sheryl Sawyers, from Mentor, Ohio, appeared as a witness for the prosecution in Zeigler’s capital murder trial at the Galveston County Courthouse.  But in the now two-year saga of Riley, first known as Baby Grace, Sheryl Sawyers had never seen Zeigler before.

“Today is actually the first time I’ve ever seen him in person, other than mug shots,” Sheryl Sawyers said from the witness stand.

Sawyers was called as a character witness to counter claims by Zeigler’s defense that only Kimberly Trenor-Zeigler had the motive and the demeanor to kill Riley.  Sawyers, however, said the most severe punishment ever dished out while Trenor and Riley lived with her in Ohio were “timeouts” and that Trenor appeared to “tune out” any temper tantrums Riley might have.
“You don’t discipline a child with physical violence. That just creates fear. I never spanked her father or his brother and I wasn’t going to start with my grandchild,” said Sawyers
Riley was the child of Trenor and Sheryl Sawyers’ son Robert.  Both Robert Sawyers and Trenor were teenagers at the time.  Trenor and Riley continued to live with Sheryl Sawyers even after the romantic relationship ended between the teen couple.

“I wasn’t going to throw my granddaughter out on the street,” Sawyers said.

To show the close bond between Riley and her grandmother prosecutors entered a single email as evidence.

It was an email to Riley from her grandmother.

“I have attached a picture of your new stepbrother Braden Michael Sawyers,” Sheryl Sawyers wrote. “Hopefully your mother will let you see it. I miss you Riley, and love you very much and hope to see you soon. Love and Kisses . Grandma Sawyers.”

The email is dated October 29th 2007. Riley was found in that box on that island that very same night.
The goal of the defense in Zeigler’s capital murder trial is to prove that Zeigler’s behavior is not that of a monster who deliberately killed a child and masterminded the horrible disposal of her body as depicted in the first trial, but that he was a bewildered, confused, bumbling young man caught up in an accidental death perpetrated only by his wife Kimberly Trenor and that he took part in the cover up to protect her from judicial harm.
It’s a theory prosecutors, investigators, and Riley’s family in Ohio just do not buy.

In the timeline presented in court today prosecutors showed that Zeigler carried on his normal life, that within weeks after Riley’s death, Trenor became pregnant with his child, that Zeigler continued working and appeared unaffected to his family, co-workers and friends.

The initial cover up extended to phone conversations between Zeigler and Sheryl Sawyers. Riley was missing and Sawyers, whose family had visitation rights, wanted to know where she could find Riley.

Zeigler, in an account that has since been proven bogus, told Sawyers, other family and friends, and investigators up until his first official interview on November 23, 2007, that a CPS worker from Ohio and come to their home in Spring and kidnapped the 2 year old.

Only after Riley’s body was found and her likeness broadcast by media around the world, prosecutors sought to prove, did Zeigler’s demeanor change, even leading to a suicide attempt involving an overdose of his prescription blood pressure and anti-anxiety medication.

Prosecutors allege that is part of the evidence of a cold-hearted killer who only became worried about Riley’s death and disposal when the investigation began closing in on him.
Prosecutors seek to prove Trenor and Zeigler killed and disposed of Riley together.  Defense attorneys admit Zeigler took part in the cover up and the disposal of the little girl’s body but say his web of lies are not evidence that proves he is the one responsible for Riley’s death. The Galveston County Medical Examiner determined Riley was killed by several blows that caused three skull fractures to the back of her head. At Trenor’s trial her confession was admitted as evidence. She said she and Zeigler took part in an all day discipline session July 25, 2007, that ended with Riley being thrown against a tile floor. 
Kimberly Dawn Trenor-Zeigler was convicted of the same charge of capital murder February 2009 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.  Zeigler faces the same sentence if convicted.  SOURCE:  KHOU.COM NEWS 05:44 PM CDT on Thursday, October 29, 2009

[Nut44x4]

Galveston jury views Baby Grace's clothes
By HARVEY RICE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 2, 2009, 12:29PM

GALVESTON -- Investigators discovered a list of nine rules for the 2-year-old girl known initially as Baby Grace in a spiral notebook found in a storage room rented by her stepfather, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, jurors learned today during the fourth day of Zeigler’s capital murder trial.

The rules for Riley Ann Sawyers were written before her death July 25, 2007, during a disciplinary session. The hand-written rules, labled “Rules for Riley,” include requiring her to “listen to mom and me,” being asleep by 8 p.m. and taking a 2 p.m. nap.

The rules were shown to the nine men and three women jurors during testimony by Elias Cazares, Galveston County sheriff’s crime investigator.

“They seem fairly reasonable,” Cazares said under cross examination by defense attorney Neal Davis III.

The jury also viewed the pink top, Disney Princess panties and pink and white tennis shoes Riley was wearing when her body was found in a box washed ashore on an island in West Galveston Bay two years ago.    

The jury viewed the blue plastic storage bin that her body, enclosed in three black plastic bags, was packed into before Zeigler, 26, threw it off the Galveston Island railroad bridge.

Cazares presented the evidence to the jury on the fourth day of Zeigler’s capital murder trial before District Judge David Garner.

Under questioning by Assistant Galveston County District Attorney Kayla Allen, Cazares told how Riley’s body was taken out of the blue box at the medical examiner’s office during the autopsy Oct. 30, 2007. He said what appeared to be cement was found in the bottom of the box.

Zeigler is accused of causing Riley’s death during the July 25, 2007, disciplinary session. Zeigler told investigators in a Nov. 24, 2007, videotaped interview that he was in another room listening to Riley’s screams and that she was already unconscious when he found her with his wife.

His statement conflicts with a videotaped statement by his wife, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 21, about what happened in their house in Spring that day. Trenor, who is serving a life sentence following her capital murder conviction in February, told investigators that Zeigler called , in sick to work that day so that he could stay home and make sure Riley was properly disciplined.

Trenor said Riley was beaten with belts, her head held under bath water and a pillow placed over her face. She said Zeigler hurled Riley onto a tile floor several times. The medical examiner testified during Trenor’s trial that any one of three fractures in Riley’s skull could have been fatal. A forensic expert testified Friday that the fractures were caused by multiple impacts.

Zeigler has admitted to investigators that he and Trenor packed Riley’s body into plastic garbage bags in the plastic box. The box was kept in a storage room inside the garage for as long as two months, investigators believe, before Zeigler tossed it into the bay.

Cazares described the storage room and the room where Riley died as Allen showed photos to jurors.

A fisherman discovered the box Oct. 29, 2007, after it washed up on an island, which has since been named Riley’s Island.

The discovery launched a nationwide search for the identity of the girl investigators dubbed Baby Grace.

Riley’s paternal grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers of Mentor, Ohio, recognized her grandchild from an artist’s conception on the Web. She called the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and Trenor and Zeigler were eventually arrested.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6698936.html

[Nut44x4]

GALVESTON, TX (KTRK) -- Testimony is continuing today in Galveston in the trial of Royce Zeigler, who's accused of beating his stepdaughter to death.

[PHOTOS: Images from 'Baby Grace' trial]

Zeigler claims he didn't kill Riley Ann Sawyers, who was known to the world as 'Baby Grace' until her body was identified. Her mother, Kimberly Trenor, is already serving a life sentence for the killing.

There were tears in the courtroom on Monday as jurors saw for the first time pieces of Riley Ann's clothing, including her tiny sneakers. The blue foot locker in which Riley was found dead was brought into court, as well.   OMG

The yound girl was murdered and stuffed in the box in 2007. Her remains were found in west Galveston Bay by a fisherman. Riley's stepfather, Royce Clyde Zeigler, is charged with capital murder in hear death and is on trial for this week.
Zeigler sat in court Monday morning with his hand on his face and listened as jurors saw clothing that Riley Ann was wearing when her body was found.
Galveston County Deputy Sheriff Elias Cazares testified that he gathered the evidence and searched Zeigler's home. It was when jurors saw Riley Ann's clothing that some began to cry. Others asked for tissues.
This is the second week of testimony in Zeigler's trial. His trial, as was Trenor's, is a a non-death penalty case. 
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7095383

[burkieandemme]

Everything Riley went through is so heart breaking!   

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6700694.html

Belts possibly used to hit Baby Grace introduced in trial
By HARVEY RICE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 3, 2009, 2:21PM
GALVESTON — DNA that could have come from Baby Grace, her mother and Royce Clyde Zeigler II was found on a belt that could have been used in a disciplinary session that resulted in the 2-year-old's death, according to testimony today in Zeigler's capital murder trial.

The belt was one of three tested for DNA from the Spring home shared by Zeigler, 26, and his wife, Kimberly Ann Trenor, 21, and Riley Ann Sawyers. Riley was known as Baby Grace for weeks after her unidentified body was discovered by a fisherman Oct. 29, 2007, in a blue plastic box that washed ashore on an island in West Galveston Bay.

Rhonda Craig, a forensic supervisor at the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Va., said there was a one in 350 billion possibility that DNA on one of three belts tested was that of someone other than Zeigler. She said there was less chance that DNA found on the belt was from Riley and Trenor, but she could not exclude them.

Under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen, Craig said that DNA from three people was found on a second belt, but only Zeigler's DNA was a possible match. The DNA from the other two persons was too scant to identify, Craig said.

Craig said a third belt examined found a possible match with Zeigler's DNA and one other person that could not be identified.

The testimony came on the fifth day of trial before District Judge David Garner.

Another FBI expert testified that a set of nine rules titled "Rules for Riley" was written by Zeigler and Trenor. Document expert Gabriel Watts testified that Zeigler wrote the first six rules and the last three by Trenor. The rules included "being polite," "listens to mom and me," "behaves in public," "never alone in our room."

Watts also testified that he used an electrostatic detection apparatus to discern writing from indentations on a page that was under another that was used to write a suicide note. The original note was gone, but the indentations revealed a note in Zeigler’s handwriting saying he is taking his life and leaving everything to his wife.

"I take my life for my past sins," the note reads in part. The note says Trenor is innocent. "My family can go to hell for the stress they have caused," the note reads.

Zeigler, in a statement to investigators, said he wrote the note to help his wife, but denied that he was suicidal.

Prosecutors are trying to prove that Zeigler killed Riley during a July 25, 2007, disciplinary session.

Zeigler has said that he was in another room while Riley was beaten. Trenor, who is serving a life sentence following her conviction in February of capital murder, said in a videotaped statement that she and Zeigler beat Riley with belts, held her head under bath water and placed a pillow over her face.

Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk said Trenor would not testify for the prosecution.

She said it was Zeigler who hurled Riley onto a tiled floor. A medical examiner testified during Trenor's trial that any one of three fractures in Riley's skull could have been fatal.

Zeigler admitted in a videotaped statement to investigators that he tossed the blue box containing Riley's body off the Galveston Island railroad bridge, but he said he did not kill her.

harvey.rice@chron.com

[Nut44x4]

Prosecution rests in Baby Grace case

Nov. 4, 2009, 5:57AM
GALVESTON, Texas — The prosecution has rested in the Galveston capital murder trial of a man accused in the 2007 death of his toddler stepdaughter.

The defense was expected to begin its case Wednesday in the trial of Royce Clyde Zeigler II of Spring.

Riley Ann Sawyers was unidentified when her body was found, in a plastic container, in Galveston Bay. Relatives in Mentor, Ohio, recognized the 2-year-old victim from media accounts about the unknown child dubbed "Baby Grace."

A coroner testified Tuesday that an autopsy found the girl had three skull fractures.

Prosecutors maintain Riley died after a violent discipline session in July 2007. Her remains were discovered three months later by a fisherman.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6702342.html

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[Nut44x4]

November 6, 2009 1:45 PM ET

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - A jury began deliberations in the Galveston capital murder trial of a man charged in the 2007 death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter.

Royce Clyde Zeigler II of Spring did not testify before the case went to jurors on Friday.

http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=11458340


IMO both of them should be burned at the stake.

[cookie]

November 6, 2009 1:45 PM ET

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) - A jury began deliberations in the Galveston capital murder trial of a man charged in the 2007 death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter.

Royce Clyde Zeigler II of Spring did not testify before the case went to jurors on Friday.

http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=11458340


IMO both of them should be burned at the stake.

I totally agree Nut!

[Nut44x4]

  TAKE THAT you piece of crap!!

Stepfather convicted in death of 'Baby Grace'
By JUAN A. LOZANO (AP) – 51 minutes ago

GALVESTON, Texas — A Southeast Texas man was convicted Friday of capital murder in the 2007 beating death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter whose battered body was found in a container floating in Galveston Bay.

Jurors deliberated for 4 1/2 hours before finding Royce Clyde Zeigler II guilty in the death of the child known as "Baby Grace." He will receive an automatic life sentence because prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. Jurors also could have convicted Zeigler of a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Zeigler and his wife, Kimberly Trenor, the toddler's mother, were accused of killing her during a discipline session that spun out of control. Trenor was convicted of capital murder in February and also received an automatic life sentence.

Investigators called the child "Baby Grace" until relatives in Ohio identified her as Riley Ann Sawyers.

Prosecutors said Zeigler and Trenor killed the toddler at their home in Spring, a suburb north of Houston, during a July 2007 discipline session intended to teach her proper manners. Authorities said Zeigler was upset the 2-year-old didn't consistently use "please" and "thank you."

Prosecutors said Trenor and Zeigler beat Riley with belts, dunked her head in a cold bath water and threw her onto a tile floor, fracturing her skull. An autopsy determined the child died of two skull fractures.

After Riley's death, the couple stuffed her body in a plastic box and hid it for months in a storage shed at their home. Then they drove about 75 miles southeast to Galveston Bay, where they dumped the container and body in October 2007, according to authorities.

Riley's remains were discovered by a fisherman on a small island in the bay.

During the trial, Ziegler's attorneys told jurors their client was in another room when Riley died and there was no evidence he killed her.

But prosecutors said Zeigler lied repeatedly to investigators, giving them conflicting statements on the girl's death. Prosecutors showed the Galveston County jury video of Zeigler admitting dumping the child's body in the bay.

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

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

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gpo9s9sjIUJM_Sod2drVEvf7QacwD9BQB60O0

[cookie]

Justice for Riley!

[trimmonthelake]

Justice for Riley!

Amen!   

'Nite Cookie.   

[cookie]

Justice for Riley!

Amen!   

'Nite Cookie.   

nite! talk to you tomorrow...

[Nut44x4]

Texas mother of slain toddler appeals conviction

Nov. 10, 2009, 6:32AM

GALVESTON, Texas — A new trial is sought for the mother of a toddler dubbed "Baby Grace" after her unidentified body turned up in Galveston Bay. 

An attorney for 21-year-old Kimberly Dawn Trenor says he mailed her capital murder appeal Monday to an appeals court in Houston. 

Greg Russell told the Galveston County Daily News that he is raising mental health and evidence issues. 

Trenor in February was convicted in the 2007 death of 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, whose battered body had been found in a container in Galveston Bay.

Relatives in Mentor, Ohio, identified the girl from media reports.

Trenor's husband and Riley's stepfather, 26-year-old Royce Clyde Zeigler II, was convicted Friday of capital murder. He and his wife received life prison terms. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6712624.html

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/091125-lois-gibson-sketch

'Baby Grace' Sketch Based On Artist's Daughter

Updated: Wednesday, 25 Nov 2009, 10:05 PM CST
Published : Wednesday, 25 Nov 2009, 10:03 PM CST
(Video Available at Link)
    *

      NED HIBBERD
      Reporter

HOUSTON - If the teenage girl in the pastel portrait looks familiar, it’s because her face was the inspiration for a police sketch seen nationwide.

Three days after the “Baby Grace” composite drawing was released to the media, a woman in Ohio called authorities, having recognized her missing 2-year old granddaughter, Riley Ann Sawyers.

The composite was created by Houston Police forensic artist Lois Gibson, after viewing the remains of the then-unidentified child whose body was found in a plastic box in Galveston Bay.

The body was so decomposed, Gibson didn’t have much to go on. So she based much of her sketch on photos and drawings of her own daughter, Tiffany.

“It was the most unspeakable thing I’d ever seen,” says Gibson. “But then I could see glimpses of a little child like my Tiffy Celeste when she was that age.”

The police sketch, and the tip it inspired, broke the case wide open. Riley Ann Sawyers’ mother and stepfather are now serving life sentences for her murder.

Now, Gibson’s pastel portrait of her daughter Tiffany as a teenager, will be displayed in the Winter Solstice Art Exhibit.

The exhibit runs from December 9, 2009 through January 8, 2010 in downtown Houston.

-- Learn More About the Winter Solstice Art Exhibit: http://artistsaliveandwell.com/JanuaryExhibit.aspx