GALVESTON — A woman accused of killing her daughter and dumping her body in Galveston Bay claimed she was innocent during her arraignment Tuesday on a capital murder charge.
During proceedings in Galveston County’s 10th District Court, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 20, pleaded guilty, however, to a charge of tampering with physical evidence, Trenor’s appointed attorney Tom Stickler said.
“She admits that she did it,” Stickler said of the tampering charge. “But she didn’t do the capital murder. The jury will still determine what punishment she gets.”
Trenor and Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 25, are accused of throwing 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers to the floor, holding her mouth and nose against a pillow and holding her underwater on July 25, 2007, at the couple’s home in Spring.
Trenor pleaded guilty to the tampering with physical evidence charge, which accuses the couple of altering, destroying or attempting to conceal Sawyers’ remains in the attempt to impair its availability as evidence.
The couple kept Sawyers’ body outside in a storage trunk before tossing it, on Aug. 18, 2007, from the Galveston Causeway. A fisherman found the plastic box with Sawyers’ remains Oct. 29, 2007, according to court documents.
Investigators named the girl Baby Grace, and the search for her identity generated national attention. Relatives came forward to help identify her.
Jury qualification and selection is expected to begin Wednesday, and Trenor’s trial on the capital murder charge begins Jan. 27, Stickler said.
Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk and Assistant District Attorney Kayla Allen will prosecute the case.
Testimony on Trenor’s case is expected to last a week or more, Stickler said. It is unclear when Zeigler’s trial on charges of capital murder and evidence tampering will begin.
