Couple To Face Capital Murder Charges In Toddler’s Death

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) – A Galveston County grand jury has returned a capital murder indictment against the suburban Houston couple accused of killing the toddler nicknamed “Baby Grace.”

The Galveston County grand jury voted Wednesday on the indictment against 19-year-old Kimberly Dawn Trenor and her 24-year-old husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II.

District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk says he won’t decide whether to seek the death penalty for Kimberly Dawn Trenor and husband Royce Clyde Zeigler II until the investigation is over.

The indictment also charges the couple with tampering with evidence in the death of Trenor’s 2-year-old daughter, Riley Ann Sawyers.

They’re accused of beating and torturing the child to death in July, then hiding her body in a shed for two months before dumping it in Galveston Bay.

Trenor’s attorney, Tommy Stickler Jr., says he doesn’t believe the facts of the case warrant a capital murder charge. But he says he’s not surprised by it, considering the publicity surrounding the case.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)