Gerrard Kaonga
Warning: This article contains allegations of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A woman faces serious charges after her boyfriend’s child was found dead.
Trinity Poague is a former beauty pageant queen, previously named Miss Donalsonville, but has had her title stripped following her arrest.
She is now on trial for the 2024 murder of her boyfriend Julian Williams' 18-month-old son and the trial got underway earlier this week.
Advert
Poague is reportedly being tried on charges of malice murder, cruelty to children in the first degree, felony murder and aggravated battery.
She has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Poague was arrested last year in January 2024 and she was charged in connection to the death of toddler Romeo Angeles, also known as Jaxton.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said the boy was found unresponsive on the campus of Georgia Southwestern State University.
Advert
In a press release, the bureau said: “The investigation indicates an unresponsive 18-month-old boy was admitted to the emergency room at Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, Georgia. Hospital personnel performed life saving measures on the child; however, he later died.
“After multiple interviews & an examination of the evidence, GBI agents arrested Poague. She is currently booked at the Sumter County Jail with no bond.”
During the trial, which began on December 2, prosecutors made the claims that Poague resented the child because she wanted a child of her own with her boyfriend.
Advert
Prosecutors also claimed that the accused had sent text messages to her friend detailing that she wanted to punch the child.
Lilly Waterman, a student at the school said that she heard the child crying for a long time until ‘everyone said that suddenly it just stopped'.
She added: “No one knew what happened.”
Prosecutors alleged Poague inflicted ‘blunt-force trauma to the head and torso’ of the child and this resulted in fatal brain and organ damage, according to a WALB report.
Advert
Williams, who testified in court on December 3, said that Poague had told him that the child had fallen off the bed.
He also testified that his son threw up twice after he says the child was left with Poague in the dorm room.
Phoebe Sumter Family Physician Michael Busman also testified on the same day and spoke of the child’s condition when he saw him.
Advert
He told the court that upon arrival to hospital, the child was not breathing, had no pulse and was unresponsive.
Busman also testified that he did not believe the child’s injuries could have been caused by falling forward off of a bed.
A GoFundMe has also been set up for Williams.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.