AMERICUS, GA - On January 14, 2024, 18-month-old Romeo Angeles-Drew, also known as Jaxton Drew, was found unresponsive on the campus of Georgia Southwestern State University, according to People Magazine. The child was transported to the hospital, where he died. Last week, the woman complicit in his death learned her fate.
The university police department requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation after the child died. Investigators soon focused on the girlfriend of the child’s father, Trinity Poague, 18, who was a student at the university, People Magazine reported at the time.
During the investigation, it was determined that Poague, a former beauty pageant winner, was jealous of the child. Police obtained probable cause and the case was presented to a grand jury, which determined Poague had abused the child, causing “serious disfigurement to his liver,” rendering his brain “useless,” and leaving the child with massive trauma to his head and torso.
She was indicted on one count of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated battery, and one count of cruelty to children, according to documents published by WDHN and WALB in Georgia.
On the date of the child’s death, students in Poague’s college dorm said they heard a child crying for a long time until “everyone said that suddenly it just stopped,” according to Lilly Waterman, a student at the school. At the time of her arrest, Poague was released on a $75,000 bond pending her trial.
On Dec. 5, Poague was found guilty of five counts, including two counts of felony murder, according to Court TV. The judge was stoic when passing the sentence.
“I don’t do a lot of speaking when I’m passing the sentence,” Judge W. James Sizemore Jr. of the Southwestern Circuit Court of Georgia said. “The bottom line is you’re going to receive a sentence of life in prison, which is the appropriate sentence for the conduct that you have been convicted of.”
He added that Poague would receive an additional 20 years to be served concurrently. While she didn’t show much emotion during her sentencing, the Court TV video showed her to be much more emotional earlier in the day when the jury rendered its verdict.
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