A woman beat her boyfriend's toddler son to death because she "resented" the boy and wanted to form a family with her own children, according to prosecutors.
The trial of 20-year-old Trinity Poague began on Tuesday with opening statements over the death of 18-month-old Romeo Angeles, also known as J.D.. Poague is charged with murder, aggravated battery and child cruelty.
Poague Texted the Child's Father, Told Him He Wasn't Breathing
Prosecutors allege the defendant, then 18, beat the child to death on Jan. 14, 2024, at her dorm room at Georgia Southwestern State University, where she was a student.
Angeles was in good health when his father, Julian Williams, then 23, went to Walmart and picked up a pizza around noon that day. But as he was driving back to the dorm, Poague texted him saying J.D. was not breathing.
Williams rushed back inside to find the boy unresponsive. He grabbed his son and drove him to the emergency room. Doctors wanted to fly him to a children's hospital in Atlanta, but they were never able to stabilize him and he was pronounced dead. After multiple interviews and an examination of the evidence, GBI agents arrested Poague days after the homicide.
The indictment alleges Poague inflicted blunt force trauma to J.D.'s head and torso with "malice aforethought." It also said Poague rendered the boy's brain "useless" and caused "serious disfigurement" to his liver.
J.D. Had Suffered Significant Injuries Including a Fractured Skull and a Lacerated Liver
Prosecutor Lewis Lamb told jurors J.D. suffered catastrophic injuries, including bruises on his head, a fractured skull and a lacerated liver. The child had also suffered a brain bleed, indicating that he was hit on the head within hours of being taken to the hospital and he was under Poague's care during that time.
Lamb also alleged that Poague disliked J.D., describing the relationship between Poague and Williams as rocky. He added that the child was main reason why there was friction between the couple.
'I Can't Stand Being Around J.D. Anymore'
Poague allegedly texted her roommate that day, "I can't stand being around J.D. anymore. He hates me and I hate him." She was also jealous that Williams paid more attention to his son than to her.
"Trinity Poague resented this child," Lamb said, adding that she wanted to start a family with Williams.
Poague allegedly didn't want to embrace that stepmother role with J.D. "She wanted to have a child or children with Julian Williams," said Lamb. "But not that child."
Poague's Defense Claimed J.D. Fell Off a Bed
Poague's defense attorney painted a far different picture of the series of events that led to the boy's tragic death. Attorney W.T. Gamble argued in his opening statement that his client is also a victim in the case because police and prosecutors jumped to conclusions about her guilt.
Gamble said the injuries likely occurred when J.D. fell off a bed that was 40 inches off the ground the night before he died. People in the dorm heard a child crying that night and his father was allegedly passed out drunk. There was very little food found in the boy's stomach, indicating he may not have felt well in the day leading up to his death, Gamble said.
