Stepdad guilty of killing 'Baby Grace'

GALVESTON, Texas, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A Texas man has been convicted of killing his 2-year-old stepdaughter, whose body was found by a fisherman washed up on a Galveston Bay beach.

Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 26, received an automatic sentence of life with no possibility of parole Friday, the Houston Chronicle reported. Jurors deliberated for just over four hours before finding him guilty.

The body of Riley Ann Sawyers was packed in a blue plastic box when it was discovered on Oct. 29, 2007. Investigators nicknamed the child "Baby Grace" before she was identified.

Prosecutors said Zeigler and his wife Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 21, killed the child while disciplining her and then dumped her body, telling a series of lies about her disappearance. One was that an Ohio social worker had come to the house and grabbed the child.

Zeigler's lawyers argued he only helped his wife cover up her daughter's death and pointed to the lack of evidence he was involved in the killing. Trenor was convicted this year and sentenced to life with no parole.

Jurors said they decided to find Zeigler guilty because he did not call 911 as Riley was dying in the couple's home in Spring.