Riley Ann Sawyers

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Riley Ann Sawyers

Riley Ann Sawyers, in a family photograph.
Born March 11, 2005(2005-03-11)
Mentor, Ohio
Died July 24, 2007 (aged 2)
Spring, Texas

Riley Ann Sawyers (March 11, 2005 - July 24, 2007), known in the press as Baby Grace, was a girl from Mentor, Ohio who was beaten to death and whose body was subsequently discovered in Galveston Bay, at which point police began a nationwide effort to identify her.[1] Searchers called the unidentified victim "Baby Grace" until Riley's grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, called police after seeing a composite sketch. The remains were positively identified through DNA testing on November 30, 2007.[2][3]

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[edit] Home life of parents

Riley's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, a tenth grade student at Mentor High School, became pregnant with Riley at age 16. Riley was born at Geauga Regional Hospital in Geauga County, Ohio. Trenor lived with Riley's father, Robert Thomas Sawyers, for two years. Robert had also attended Mentor High School but had dropped out. Trenor, Sawyers and Riley had lived with Sawyers' mother Sheryl and her mother. Sheryl was Riley's primary caregiver. It was also during this time that Robert developed another relationship with a woman named Catherine Priester. The two would later marry and have a son together.

Later, in October 2006, alleging abuse and having filed domestic violence charges Trenor left with her daughter and "disappeared".[4][5] Trenor had left Ohio for Spring, Texas, an unincorporated section of Harris County, to marry Royce Clyde Zeigler, II. The two had met on the online game World of Warcraft[6], and they married on June 1, 2007 in Texas. Zeigler believed Riley should be disciplined to say "sir" and "ma'am", and that corporal punishment was the only effective method. Believing that Trenor was not properly administering the beatings herself, Zeigler took over.[5]

[edit] Death

According to a videotaped confession and signed affidavit from Trenor, on July 24, 2007, she and Zeigler beat Riley with two leather belts and held her head under water in the bathtub. She also said Zeigler picked her daughter up by her hair, threw her across the room, and slammed her head into the tile floor.[4] When they realized Riley was dead, Trenor and Zeigler went to Wal-Mart, bought a plastic Sterilite storage container, wrapped her body in garbage bags, and stuffed it inside the container. They kept the container in a storage shed for approximately two months before dumping it into Galveston Bay, where it was discovered by local fisherman Robert Wayne Spinn on October 29, 2007. A coroner discovered skull fractures and the investigation proceeded as a homicide.[1]

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Zeigler attempted suicide by overdosing on blood pressure medication and anti-depressants. He left a suicide note stating, "My wife is innocent of the sins I committed." Trenor and Zeigler eventually took responsibility for Riley Ann's death, initially charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence. Trenor says that the death was accidental—"a case of discipline that went too far"—the Galveston County District Attorney stated that a charge of murder may be filed, depending on the outcome of the investigation.[7]

On January 14, 2008, the cremated remains of Riley Ann Sawyers were turned over to her family in Ohio, after a Texas judge ruled that samples taken during the autopsy would be sufficient evidence for trial.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Associated Press (November 5, 2007). 'Baby Grace' Sketch Unleashes Wave of Tips. ABC News.
  2. ^ Sara McDonald (November 30, 2007). DNA confirms Sawyers is ‘Baby Grace’. Galveston Daily News.
  3. ^ Harvey Rice (November 30, 2007). DNA test confirms Riley Sawyers is Baby Grace. Houston Chronicle.
  4. ^ a b Sean Callebs (November 26, 2007). Police: Mother describes beating of 2-year-old, hiding her body. CNN.
  5. ^ a b Harvey Rice (December 3, 2007). Riley's death fits 'stepparent syndrome' mold. Houston Chronicle.
  6. ^ Terri Langford (December 2, 2007). How did Riley's mom end up here?. Houston Chronicle.
  7. ^ Harvey Rice (November 29, 2007). Mom: Beating of Baby Grace wasn't meant to be lethal. Houston Chronicle.
  8. ^ M.R. Kropko (January 15, 2008). Ashes of 'Baby Grace' Flown to Ohio. ABC News.

[edit] External links