Final Jury Selection Begins in Baby Grace Trial

October 27, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under: News

The final jury selection process begin this morning in the Baby Grace capital murder trial of Royce Clyde Zeigler II, the 2-year-old’s stepfather.

He is accused of beating the child to death and then tossing her body off the Galveston Island railroad bridge.

Little Riley Ann Sawyer was nicknamed Baby Grace until her body was identified. Zeigler’s wife, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, received life imprisonment after she was convicted of capital murder in this case in February.

It is expected that testimony in the case will begin tomorrow after 12 jurors have been chosen from the 125-member jury pool which was selected two weeks ago.

At least 15 of the potential jurors changed their minds from a few weeks ago, stating that they did not believe they could be fair and impartial in this case. Intense media coverage of the case has drawn extra caution in the jury selection process from attorneys and Galveston County District Judge David Garner.

Although Trenor’s trial only lasted five days, District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk believes this trial could take up to two weeks. The prosecution is not seeking the death penalty. It’s difficult to understand why such a heinous crime as this would not carry the death penalty. Capital murder carries a sentence of life without parole. Manslaughter carries a sentence that ranges from probation to 20 years in prison.

Defense attorneys Neal Davis III and Dee McWilliams of Houston have questioned Trenor’s version of Riley’s death.

We’ve maintained from the very beginning that Royce had nothing to do with her death,” David said.