GALVESTON — During a videotaped interview with sheriff’s investigators, a man accused of killing Baby Grace admitted dumping the body of his 2-year-old stepdaughter into Galveston Bay.
Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 26, is charged with capital murder, stemming from the July 25, 2007, slaying of Riley Ann Sawyers.
Before testimony began Wednesday, Zeigler pleaded not guilty to the charge in Judge David Garner’s 10th District Court.
Zeigler’s defense team claims there is no evidence to show he killed Sawyers.
Zeigler’s suicide note, however, linked him to Sawyers’ death, Lt. Tommy Hansen, a Galveston County Sheriff’s Office investigator, said.
Mother’s Trial
Zeigler’s wife, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 21, was convicted Feb. 2 of capital murder in the death of her daughter, who was beaten and had her head forced into a pillow and held under cold bath water. Sawyers suffered her injuries during a daylong disciplinary session, testimony in Trenor’s trial revealed.
Sawyers was thrown against the tile floor of the couple’s home in Spring, according to testimony in Trenor’s trial. She died in her mother’s arms from two skull fractures, testimony revealed.
The couple was accused of wrapping Sawyers’ body in three bags and placing her in a plastic box with concrete. Sawyers’ decomposing body was kept in the garage for weeks.
Zeigler and Trenor also were accused of throwing Sawyers’ body off a railroad bridge connecting Galveston to the Mainland.
Bayou Vista fisherman Robert Spinn found Sawyers’ body Oct. 29, 2007. The body was in a container that washed onto an island in Galveston Bay, testimony in Trenor’s trial revealed. Investigators called the girl Baby Grace until learning her identity in late November.
Prosecutor: Zeigler Lied
Zeigler made contradicting statements Nov. 23 and 24, 2007, during videotaped interviews with Galveston County Sheriff’s Office investigators, prosecutor Kayla Allen said.
“You will hear over and over again he wasn’t there that day,” Allen told the jury.
Zeigler changed his story in the Nov. 24 interview, Allen said.
“Royce Clyde Zeigler (II) and Kimberly lied to everyone they could lie to,” Allen said. “They lied to their family, co-workers and police over and over.”
Zeigler also lied about giving Sawyers cardiopulmonary resuscitation and covering up the killing, Allen said.
“You’ll see at the end of the trial Royce Zeigler (II) is full of nothing but lies, and that he and his wife murdered Riley Ann Sawyers,” Allen said.
‘Not One Iota Of Evidence’
Neal Davis III, one of Zeigler’s three attorneys, told the jury that Zeigler was innocent of capital murder.
On July 24, 2007, Zeigler planned to go live with his mother and leave the house and family van for Trenor, Davis said.
Zeigler didn’t want to abandon Trenor, and she begged him to stay, Davis said.
“I’m not going to give you a lot of details about July 25,” Davis told jurors, asking them to listen to the type of evidence presented by the state.
“There is not one iota of evidence that Royce Zeigler (II) in any way caused the death of Riley Sawyers,” Davis said. “That means not guilty … The guilty person has already been convicted. She sits in jail right now.”
Zeigler Did ‘The Unthinkable’
Zeigler, who called in sick to work, heard his name screamed and saw Sawyers lying on the floor, Davis said.
“For whatever stupid reason, he picked (her) up from the floor and did the unthinkable,” Davis said. “He put her in a trash bag, and in another container and put it in the bay.”
Zeigler’s tampering with evidence charge is for another jury to decide on another day, Davis said.
Prosecutors played for the jury two of Zeigler’s videotaped interviews with investigators. He told authorities how he met Trenor while playing an online game. He flew to Cleveland to meet Trenor and Sawyers, who lived in Mentor, Ohio. He wanted to spend the night on the couch but slept with Trenor on her request, Zeigler said in the video.
Trenor told Zeigler a state worker with child protective services forcibly took Sawyers from their home in Spring, Zeigler said.
Zeigler came home from work, finding the gate and garage door open. Trenor was crying on the floor by the fireplace, and he saw a purple bruise on Trenor’s chest.
Zeigler said in the taped statement he believed an Ohio child protective services letter accusing him of sexually abusing Sawyers was a fake, but he was scared of the false claim. Zeigler was not home when the letter was written at his house, testimony revealed. Authorities never accused Zeigler of sexual abuse.
Interrogation Begins
About 50 minutes into the first video, investigators began interrogating Zeigler, saying he knew Baby Grace was Sawyers. Zeigler swore he didn’t.
“I didn’t harm Riley to kill her,” Zeigler told investigators. “Are you saying I’m a suspect here?
Zeigler, dressed in street clothes, leaned forward, clutched his ball cap and listened to investigators tell him they knew he and Trenor went to Walmart and purchased items to dispose of Riley’s body.
“I think I’m going to need a lawyer,” Zeigler said one hour, 22 minutes into the video, and the questioning stopped.
Miserable In Jail
Zeigler, citing the horrible, frigid and isolated living conditions in the jail’s suicide-watch room, requested a second videotaped interview with sheriff’s investigators. He admitted performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Sawyers.
“She wasn’t breathing when I got there, in the living room,” Zeigler said. “I do remember (Trenor) sitting on the couch and handing Riley to her.”
Zeigler contemplated calling the police but didn’t because he was afraid of what would happen, he said. Zeigler said he didn’t want Trenor to be in trouble.
He said he thought of taking Sawyers to a friend’s house. The friend could then take the toddler to the emergency room.
“By the time the decision was made, it was too late,” Zeigler said.
‘Just Freaked Out’
Sgt. Mike Barry, the lead investigator who also questioned Trenor for four hours, asked Zeigler what happened to Sawyers.
“She’d already passed,” Zeigler said. “I picked her up and put her in the bathtub. I kind of just freaked out.”
Zeigler said he couldn’t remember details of what came next.
“I kind of blacked out,” Zeigler said.
He said he wanted to respect Trenor’s wishes to give Sawyers a proper burial.
Barry asked Zeigler what he and Trenor bought at Walmart, and Zeigler said Trenor bought a plastic container. Zeigler bought a chain that he would use for his truck, he said.
Zeigler described what the couple did when they left the store.
“We went back to the house, and I told her to go clean up Riley,” Zeigler said. “She went to the bathroom and just closed the door. I couldn’t bear seeing it. I was going to puke.”
Trenor, during her trial, accused Zeigler of cleaning Sawyers’ body.
Trenor picked out the clothes for Sawyers’ burial, Zeigler said in the video. Zeigler said he didn’t remember whether gloves were worn but said he bought a concrete mix before a trip to Walmart.
The following night, the couple left to go dig a hole, Zeigler said.
No Burial In ‘Boondocks’
Barry asked Zeigler to describe the couple’s attempt to dispose of Sawyers’ body.
“It was out in the boondocks,” Zeigler said. “I said, ‘I can’t do this.’” Zeigler said the emotional toll stopped him from digging.
“I loved them both,” Zeigler said.
“We’ve grown to love her, too, and now we have a name to put with it,” Barry said. “Is Baby Grace Riley Ann Sawyers?”
Zeigler said he hadn’t seen the body.
“But I would have to say pretty much so,” Zeigler said.
‘I Dumped It Into The Water’
Two to three weeks after the botched burial, the couple arrived in Galveston, Zeigler told investigators. Trenor drove, he said.
The couple stopped on the then-six-lane Galveston Causeway. Zeigler then admitted he probably suggested driving to the railroad bridge.
“She told me to get it out, and I took it and dumped it into the water,” Zeigler said.
Zeigler’s attorney Dee McWilliams questioned Hansen about whether any physical evidence existed — such as DNA, fingerprints or fibers — that linked Zeigler to Sawyers’ death.
“Other than probably the suicide note — some of those type things — no,” Hansen said.
It is unclear whether the suicide note will be offered into evidence.
Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk was expected to question Hansen this morning.
