Beauty Queen To Baby Killer: Pageant Winner Gets Life For Dorm Room Toddler Beating | Crime Alert 9AM 12.08.25

A former beauty queen in Georgia is now sentenced to life in prison for the fatal beating of an eighteen-month-old boy inside a college dorm room. A driverless taxi in California steered a paying passenger straight into a tense police standoff in downtown Los Angeles, passing officers with guns drawn. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update breaking.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Crime news Now.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
I'm Drew Nelson, a former beauty queen in Georgia, is
now sentenced to life in prison for the fatal beating
of an eighteen month old boy inside a college dorm room.
Trinity Madison Pogue, now twenty, was sentenced on Friday in
America's Georgia.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
It says, way did Jerry find the defendant not guilty
on counts two, three, four, five, and six. The verdict reads,
way did Jerry find the defendant guilty of faulty murder
two counts, aggravated battery two counts, and cruelty to child
in the first degree.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
The court imposed the life sentence, with the possibility of
parole after thirty years. She also received twenty additional years
to be served. Concurrently, Pogue broke down in tears as
the sentence was handed down. She had earlier appeared stoic
when the jury returned its verdict. She had been free
on bond before sentencing. The victim was eighteen month old
Romeo Angelus, referred to in earlier reports as as Jaxton

(01:00):
Drew Williams. He is the son of Julian Williams, the
child's mother Sheyla Angelus Garnica. The killing happened on January
fourteenth of twenty twenty four inside a dorm room at
Georgia's Southwestern State University. Pogue was a freshman. Williams had
left the room to pick up a pizza. Prosecutor said
the child was healthy when his father left. When Williams returned,

(01:21):
he found his son unresponsive. Romeo had suffered fatal blunt
force trauma. Medical findings showed brain bleeds, a skull fracture
that hemorrhaged an elaceration on his lever. The toddler was
rushed to the hospital while vomiting and barely conscious. Doctors
attempted to stabilize him for an emergency flight to Children's
Healthcare in Atlanta, but he never recovered. Pogue told investigators

(01:43):
the child had been eating chips before he became unresponsive,
but the medical examiner found that he had not eaten
at all. The examination showed blunt force trauma to the
head and torso so severe that his brain was left
quote unquote useless. Emergency room doctor Michael Bussman testified that
swelling and fluid from the child's nose pointed to quote

(02:04):
a direct blow. Prosecutors argued that Pogue killed the toddler
out of resentment. They said she wanted a child of
her own with Williams. Investigators also said that while at
the hospital, Pogue searched online for how do you get
a brain bleed? And how can a depressed skull fracture
go unnoticed? The Sumter County Corner later confirmed the child's

(02:25):
legal birth name is Romeo Angelis. At the hospital, his
father identified him as Jackson Drew Williams. Pogue was arrested
one week after the child's death. She was indicted on
six counts, including malice, murder of felony murder, aggravated battery,
and cruelty to children. She was released on a seventy
five thousand dollars bond in order to wear an ankle
monitor until her sentencing. Pogue had earned the Miss Donaldsonville

(02:48):
pageant title in twenty twenty three. She later competed in
the National Peanut Festival beauty pageant. After her arrest, she
was stripped of her titles. More Crime and Justice news
after this. A driverless taxi in California steers a paying

(03:09):
passenger straight into a tense police standoff In downtown Los Angeles,
passing officers with guns drawn, coming within feet of a
suspect lying on the ground. The incident happened around three
forty am Friday at the First Street and Broadway intersection.
Los Angeles police were in the middle of a high
risk felony arrest after a stolen vehicle pursuit. A Weymo

(03:30):
robotaxi approached the flashing patrol cruisers, rolled through a red light,
and made a left turn into the active arrest scene.
Video posted online showed officers shouting at the car, one
saying quote, go to your left, go to your left.
Oh my god, Oh my god, what the fuck is

(03:52):
out Weimo doing. The vehicle slowed down, signaled right, and
briefly appeared to consider pulling toward the curb and directly
beside the suspect. Human drivers nearby stopped well back from
police lights. Officers later said the moment did not affect
their tactics and no one was hurt because of LAPD
blocked off the intersection immediately afterward, Weimo said the vehicle

(04:16):
was near the scene for quote no more than fifteen seconds.
The company also stated quote safety is our highest priority
at Weimo. Both for people who choose to ride with
us and with whom we share the streets. When we
encounter unusual events like this one, we learn from them
as we continue improving road safety and operating in dynamic cities.

(04:36):
Belie said traffic had not yet been shut down when
the Weimo approached. LAPD has a twenty four to seven
hotline for autonomous vehicle coordination and confirmed it is in
regular contact with the company. Weimo first opened its service
in Los Angeles in November of twenty twenty four. It
has since expanded operations across the city. The Los Angeles

(04:56):
encounter is the latest in a string of missteps involving
wa vehicles. In San Francisco, a Weimo ran over a
well known neighborhood Bodega cat kit kat. Another Weimo struck
a small, unleashed dog as passengers shouted for the car
to stop. Weimo maintains that the technology continues to improve
and emphasizes its safety record. The company recently announced it

(05:19):
had passed one hundred million miles without a human driver
without a fatality. For the latest Crime and Justice News followed
Crime alert eirely update on your favorite podcast app with
this crime alert and Drew Nelson,