An 18-year-old beauty pageant queen from southwest Georgia finds herself in legal trouble as she has been arrested and charged with the murder of an 18-month-old boy, according to state authorities.
Trinity Madison Poague, a resident of Donalsonville, Georgia, was taken into custody in America on Friday and now faces charges of aggravated battery, felony murder, and cruelty to a child.
As of Sunday night, she remained in the Sumter County Jail with no bond set, according to jail records.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced Poague’s arrest in a news release, stating that their agents conducted multiple interviews and examined evidence related to the case. The GBI took on the investigation at the request of the police department at Georgia Southwest State University, where Poague was a freshman.
The investigation revealed that an unresponsive 18-month-old boy was admitted to the emergency room at Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, Georgia.
Despite efforts by hospital personnel to save the child, he later succumbed to his injuries.
Details regarding Poague’s relationship to the boy were not immediately disclosed by the bureau.
Reports from local station WTVY suggest that Poague does not have any children of her own.
Originally from Donalsonville, about 100 miles south of Americus, Poague earned the title of Miss Donalsonville 2023, as reported by local news outlets and her social media posts.
Although she participated in the Miss National Peanut Festival in October, she did not secure a place in the pageant.
In a post on Instagram following the competition, Poague expressed gratitude, saying, “Win or lose, I have gained the world throughout my reign as Miss Donalsonville. To me, that is the best thing Jesus could ever do for me. He blesses me in EVERY SINGLE WAY.”
Poague graduated with honors from Southwest Georgia Academy last year, a college preparatory school in the small community of Damascus.
Upon enrolling at Georgia Southwestern State University, she was among the 22 students selected for the President Jimmy Carter Leadership Program, which provides academic scholarships, as reported by the Donalsonville News in September.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been contacted for additional information on the case.