On Saturday, authorities in Georgia announced the arrest of a teenage beauty queen on charges related to the homicide of an infant who was 18 months old.
After the murder, 18-year-old Trinity Madison Poague, who was the reigning Miss Donalsonville, was charged with many offenses. Upon admission to the hospital on January 14, medics were unable to revive the unconscious baby. Neither the child’s identity nor the details of his relationship with Poague have been made public by the authorities at this time.
Poague faces first-degree cruelty to minors, aggravated violence, and felony murder charges, all brought by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.’
A statement released on Saturday by the agency stated that the Georgia Southwestern State University Police Department requested the GBI’s assistance in investigating the child’s death on Sunday, January 14, 2024, at approximately 2:00 pm.
The inquiry points to the emergency room at Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, Georgia, where an 18-month-old was hospitalized after becoming unconscious. The hospital staff gave the infant life-saving procedures, but he passed away afterward. GBI operatives apprehended Poague following a battery of interrogations and evidential reviews.
There is no bond for Poague’s current appearance at the Sumter County Jail.
Poague competed in the National Peanut Festival pageant in October and is now reigning as Miss Donalsonville 2023.
In its coverage of Southwest Georgia Academy’s May 2023 commencement, the Donalsonville News identified the adolescent as one of the school’s honor graduates.
In August, she was announced by yet another local publication to be one of the first-year students chosen for a leadership program at the institution.
Poague was one of twenty-two students chosen by Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) to take part in the President Jimmy Carter Leadership Program, named after the university’s previous alumni, according to the Thomasville Times-Enterprise.
Students are interviewed and chosen based on their performance in rigorous requirements, including a 3.0 GPA or above in high school and evidence of prior leadership experience (e.g., on a sports team or in a club).
