A former Georgia beauty queen, Trinity Poague, has been sentenced to life in prison after a jury found her responsible for the death of her ex-boyfriend’s 18-month-old son: a case that drew regional attention for its disturbing allegations and conflicting accounts of what happened inside a college dorm room.
The verdict was delivered Friday in Sumter County Superior Court, where prosecutors described a brutal assault that left the toddler with catastrophic injuries. The child, Romeo “Jaxton Dru” Angeles, was rushed to a nearby hospital after Poague reported he was unresponsive, but doctors were unable to save him.
According to reporting from WALB and the New York Post, the judge handed down a life sentence just under an hour after the jury returned guilty verdicts on felony murder, aggravated battery, and child cruelty.
Who is Trinity Madison Poague?
Trinity Madison Poague, 20, is a former Miss Donalsonville whose title was later revoked, according to Early County News.
At the time of the incident in January 2024, she was a sophomore at Georgia Southwestern State University and was caring for her boyfriend Julian Williams’ toddler son inside his dorm room.
Prosecutors argued Poague resented the toddler because she wanted a child of her own with Williams. District Attorney Lewis Lamb told jurors, as reported by Metro.co.uk, that Poague “wanted to have a child with Julian Williams. But not that child.”
They also cited text messages Poague sent to her roommate saying she wanted to punch the child and claiming, “the child hates me and I hate him".
How murder took place
On January 14, 2024, Williams left to pick up a pizza. Minutes later, Poague called saying the child was not breathing. Medical staff later documented fresh bruising, brain bleeds, a skull fracture and a liver laceration. These injuries, the doctors said, could only have occurred shortly before the child arrived at the ER.
ER physician Dr. Michael Busman testified, according to the New York Post, that swelling and fluid from the toddler’s nose pointed to “a direct blow,” contradicting Poague’s account that the child had simply fallen off a bed.
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Prosecutors also said Poague searched online for terms such as “How do you get a brain bleed?” and “How can a depressed skull fracture go unnoticed?” around the time of the incident.
Poague’s attorney, WT “Tim” Gamble III, argued that investigators lacked direct evidence and described Williams as a controlling boyfriend who had been drinking the night before, Metro.co.uk reported.
Despite this, jurors convicted Poague on multiple charges; she was acquitted only of malice murder.
Judge W James Sizemore Jr delivered a life sentence with an additional 20 concurrent years. Poague broke down in court as the sentence was announced. A GoFundMe launched to support the child’s father has raised more than $12,000, Metro.co.uk reported.