Brutal Details, No Murder Charges in Girl's Death
Mother Kimberly Trenor and her husband are expected to appear in court today.
Nov. 27, 2007 — -- The mother of Riley Ann Sawyers voluntarily told Texas authorities how she and her husband abused the toddler before the pair stuffed her body into a plastic box and dumped it into a Texas waterway, officials said today.
The chilling details of the abuse were outlined in an affidavit released Monday night.
"That was of her own volition," Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo, a spokesman for the Galveston County Sheriff's Office, said this morning when asked on CBS' "The Early Show" how investigators had prompted Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, to admit to the couple's involvement in the girl's death.
Tuttoilmondo also told CBS that authorities are trying to determine whether or not Riley Ann was a victim of long-term abuse.
Monday, authorities in Texas announced they are "fairly confident" that the remains, discovered late last month by a Texas fisherman and nicknamed Baby Grace, are those of Riley Ann.
A positive ID cannot be confirmed until DNA test results are complete.
Authorities arrested Trenor and her boyfriend, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, early Saturday. For now, the pair is being held on charges of injuring a child and tampering with evidence.
The pair could face additional charges including possible murder charges after a grand jury hears the case. Bail was set at $350,000 each. The couple could be in court as early as today.
The affidavit released Monday night quotes Trenor as saying the girl died July 24. In the affidavit, Trenor says Riley Ann was beaten with belts, had her head held underwater and was thrown across a room by Zeigler. Officials say the injuries to her skull identified during an autopsy were with that kind of trauma.
After Riley Ann died, Trenor said in her statement, Zeigler covered the child's body in a purple towel and then drove to a Wal-Mart to purchase items to hide and dispose of the body, including a blue plastic container, bleach, a shovel and latex gloves.
According to the affidavit, Trenor said Zeigler hid the container with the remains in a storage shed for two months before the pair tossed the container into the water off Galveston Causeway.
Trenor told police that Zeigler attempted suicide last week and wrote a note taking responsibility for the crime. "My wife is innocent of the sins that I committed," Trenor says the note read.
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