LAWFUEL – While the Texas couple charged with the murder of the baby known as “baby Grace”, a lawyer for the stepfather said his client is innocent.
The lawyer was reported by AP as claiming that Kimberly Dawn Trenor had blamed his client for the death of the two-year-old but he was not guilty of the charge.
The baby’s identity was a mystery for weeks after a box holding her body washed ashore in Galveston Bay. Her paternal grandmother in Ohio led police to Trenor, 19, and Zeigler, 24, after seeing a police artist’s rendering of the girl.
Her identity was not known at first, and police dubbed her “Baby Grace.” Police sketches of the child were widely distributed, and Sheryl Sawyers, the girl’s paternal grandmother, contacted police from her Ohio home to say the drawing resembled her granddaughter. DNA testing confirmed the child’s identity.
Trenor, 19, and Royce Zeigler, 24, were initially charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence.
But since the initial charges were filed last month the investigation has continued and police have gathered additional evidence, in addition to confirming Riley’s identity, said a statement released Wednesday by Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk.
The couple was charged Wednesday with capital murder and tampering with evidence, and could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted.
