National Peanut Festival Pageant contestant accused in death of toddler

AMERICUS, Ga. — A southwest Georgia woman who was a contestant in last year’s National Peanut Festival Pageant is accused in the death of an 18-month-old child, authorities said.

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According to Sumter County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Trinity Madison Poague, 18, of Donalsonville, was arrested Friday and charged with felony murder, aggravated battery, and cruelty to children in the first degree.

In a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Saturday, at about 2 p.m. EST on Jan. 14, the Georgia Southwestern State University Police Department asked the agency to investigate the death of a child.

According to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the unresponsive child was admitted to the emergency room at Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, WALB-TV reported.

Hospital personnel performed life-saving measures, but the child later died, according to the television station.

After conducting several interviews and examining evidence, GBI agents arrested Poague, WALB reported.

Authorities did not release any information about the circumstances leading to the child’s death.

“Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution,” the GBI said in a statement.

Poague graduated with honors last year from Southwest Georgia Academy in nearby Damascus, the Donalsonville News reported. She is the reigning Miss Donalsonville and competed in the National Peanut Festival Pageant in late October, WTVY reported.

Poague was attending Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus and was one of 22 freshmen named to the President Jimmy Carter Leadership Program in August, according to the Thomasville Times-Enterprise.

The Georgia Southwestern State University Police Department and the Americus Police Department assisted with the investigation, the GBI said in its news release.

Poague remains in the Sumter County Jail with no bail, online records show.

An investigation is ongoing.

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