On Tuesday, December 3, 2025, 20-year-old Trinity Poague was found guilty of killing her boyfriend’s 18-month-old son, Romeo “J.D.” Angeles, during a visit to her dorm room at Georgia Southwestern State University.
Poague, a former beauty queen and member of a well-known leadership program, was convicted of felony murder and Cruelty to Children.
On December 5, 2025, she received life in prison for felony murder, along with a 20-year concurrent sentence for child cruelty, and she now has 30 days to appeal her punishment.
The crime reportedly happened on January 2024 inside Poague’s dorm room while her boyfriend, Julian Williams, left briefly to pick up a pizza.
Few minutes after he left, Poague sent him a text saying his son was not breathing, so Williams rushed back to the room and found Romeo unresponsive.
He drove him straight to the ER, where doctors tried to stabilize the toddler before sending him to a hospital in Atlanta.
Sadly, Romeo never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead, as per New York Post.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed that Poague killed the victim because she was jealous that Williams gave his son more attention than her.
They also say she wanted to have a child or children with Julian Williams… but not the victim.
According to Prosecutor Lewis Lamb, Poague saw the toddler as an obstacle and did not want to take on a stepmother role.
He also shared a chilling text Poague allegedly sent to her roommate just hours before the baby died, and it read:
“I can’t stand being around JD anymore. He hates me and I hate him.”
Prosecutors believe this message revealed her resentment and anger toward the child.
At first, Poague told doctors that Romeo had been eating chips moments before he suddenly became unresponsive.
However, medical findings did not support this, but instead, doctors found signs of brutal trauma.
According to Sumter County Coroner Matthis Wright, the toddler had not eaten anything before his death.
Additionally, medical experts also revealed that Romeo suffered “blunt-force trauma to the head and torso”, leaving his brain “useless.”
After this revealation, Poague then changed her story and claimed the toddler fell off the bed. But ER physician Dr. Michael Busman testified that this explanation did not match the injuries.
He noted that Romeo’s swollen head and fluid from his nose showed signs of “a direct blow.”
Prosecutors also said Poague searched the Internet for some incriminating questions on her phone such as: “How do you get a brain bleed?” and “How can a depressed skull fracture go unnoticed?”
These searches happened while she was at the hospital after Romeo was already unconscious.
Just a week after Romeo’s death, Poague was charged with murder, aggravated battery, and child cruelty. She pleaded not guilty, and her release on a $75,000 bond caused serious outrage at the time.
Now with the December 2025 verdict, Poague now faces life in prison for the murder of 18-month-old Romeo “J.D.” Angeles. She will also serve a 20-year sentence for child cruelty will run at the same time.
Poague once held the title of Miss Donalsonville 2023 and even competed in the National Peanut Festival pageant. However, after her arrest, she was stripped of her titles.
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