GALVESTON, Texas (AP) _ Opening statements were scheduled Tuesday in the trial of a woman accused of beating her 2-year-old daughter to death, hiding the body for nearly two months and later dumping the remains at sea.
The jury of seven women and five men will begin hearing statements to decide the fate of Kimberly Dawn Trenor.
Trenor, 20, faces life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder in the death of Riley Ann Sawyers.
The toddler was dubbed “Baby Grace” by investigators who worked to identify her badly decomposed remains after they were discovered in a plastic container by a fisherman in October 2007 on a tiny island in Galveston Bay.
Prosecutors say Trenor and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, tortured Riley to death in July 2007 while disciplining her.
Later, they finally dumped the remains in the bay 70 miles away.
During jury selection on yesterday, Trenor’s attorney, Tommy Stickler Jr., said his client wasn’t responsible for Riley’s death and put the blame on Zeigler.