Dorm Death MYSTERY Shocks Campus

Students walking on a campus path surrounded by autumn trees and brick buildings

A former beauty queen now faces spending the next three decades behind bars for beating her boyfriend’s toddler to death in a college dorm room where babysitting turned to brutal violence.

Story Snapshot

Trinity Madison Poague, former Miss Donalsonville, convicted of murdering her boyfriend’s 18-month-old son in her Georgia Southwestern State University dorm room
Medical experts testified the child suffered massive skull fractures and liver lacerations from high-force blunt trauma during 35 minutes Poague was alone with him
Jury deliberated three hours before convicting on five charges including felony murder and cruelty to children; sentenced to life with possibility of parole after 30 years
Prosecutors presented text messages showing Poague resented the toddler’s interference in her relationship and wanted her own child with the father

When the Crying Stopped

The evening of January 13, 2024, started with persistent crying echoing through a Georgia college dorm. Poague’s roommate heard 18-month-old Romeo Angeles wailing for hours before the sound abruptly ceased around 10 p.m. Nobody could have known those final cries would become crucial testimony in a murder trial. The next morning, when boyfriend Justin Williams returned from a brief pizza run, he found the toddler unresponsive with fresh bruises covering his face, forehead, neck, and cheeks. Three hours later at Sumter Regional Hospital, the child died from what doctors would describe as catastrophic injuries incompatible with any accident.

Medical Evidence Seals the Case

Emergency room physicians Michael Busman and Jill Olek delivered devastating testimony that demolished any defense of accidental injury. The toddler arrived at the hospital pulseless and not breathing, with a fractured skull, brain bleeding, and a lacerated liver. These doctors assigned zero percent probability that CPR attempts or a short fall caused the damage. They emphasized the injuries required high-force blunt trauma and occurred mere minutes before the child became symptomatic. The critical window aligned precisely with the 35 to 36 minutes Williams left Poague alone with his son while fetching pizza that January morning.

A Beauty Queen’s Dark Secret

Poague had claimed the crown of Miss Donalsonville in 2023, representing her small Georgia hometown near the Alabama and Florida borders. The pageant title became a media focal point, creating stark contrast between her public image and the violence prosecutors alleged. Text messages to her roommate revealed resentment toward the toddler, whom she blamed for disrupting her relationship with Williams. She expressed wanting her own child with him instead. Following her January 19, 2024 arrest by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, pageant organizers swiftly revoked her title and Georgia Southwestern State University expelled her.

Justice Delivered After Two-Day Trial

District Attorney Lewis Lamb built his case around one undeniable fact during closing arguments: massive head trauma occurred while only one person supervised the child. The defense attorney argued Poague had limited unsupervised time and suggested the toddler’s poor health and refusal to eat contributed to his condition. The jury rejected these arguments. After three hours of deliberation on December 5, 2025, they convicted Poague on five of six charges including felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children, and two counts of aggravated battery. She was acquitted only on malice murder. Poague wept as the verdict was read.

The judge imposed a life sentence with parole eligibility after 30 years plus a concurrent 20-year term. The case closed at the trial level in December 2025, though no information about potential appeals has emerged. For Williams and his family, the verdict brought some measure of justice for a toddler whose short life ended in violence when he should have been safe. The university community and Sumter County now face questions about childcare in dormitories and the hidden dangers when resentment festers behind closed doors. Poague will spend decades contemplating how ambition and jealousy destroyed two lives including her own.