Teen ‘killed and set on fire during horror social media live stream’ as eight arrested
Police said eight people had been arrested over the killing of the 19-year-old boy, which was streamed live on social media and sparked a city-wide curfew on under-16s
Eight arrests have been made over the brutal killing of the 19-year-old (file photo)(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a teenager’s death was streamed live on social media and his body was burned.
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The partially burnt body of a 19-year-old man was found by walkers in the remote corner of a village near Nîmes, France on July 15, with detectives establishing clear signs that he had been victim of a ‘methodical execution’. He was found to have suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including one to his head, and his body was deliberately set on fire.
Eight suspects were arrested this week in connection with the killing, which had led to a city-wide youth curfew being brought in during the summer. During the investigation, it emerged that the man’s death had been broadcast live on social media as part of an escalating gang war in Nîmes.
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The video showed him tied up in the moments before he was shot, with the suspects then seen to pour a flammable liquid over his body and set him on fire. Investigators believe the killing is directly linked to the turf wars waged between criminal groups in Nîmes, with the video intended as a warning to rival gangs.
In recent years, clashes over control of drugs territory have spread from major cities in France from Marseille to medium-sized cities, such as Nîmes, as existing criminal networks expand across the country and become more sophisticated. Young people – including some as young as 14 – are often recruited to carry out the contract killings, typically for little reward.
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Cécile Gensac, chief prosecutor for Nîmes, announced this week that eight people were arrested in various parts of the country in connection with the killing in July and are “suspected of having participated” in its “organisation and commission”.
Police believe the incident could be connected to an earlier shooting on June 27 which saw gunmen open fire in the courtyard of a block of flats in working-class neighbourhood of Valdegour. Six people were injured, including four under the age of 18. In the Mas de Mingue district, east of Nîmes, a man was also shot dead and another wounded by attackers who opened fire on a car on July 10.
The wave of killings this summer led to the Nîmes mayor introducing a night-time curfew on young people to “contain tensions”, with no under 16s allowed out between 9pm and 6am. Jean-Paul Fournier said the situation in the city had become “untenable” and blamed drug traffickers for creating a “climate of fear and terror”. The youth curfew was eventually lifted on September 21.
GA v. Trinity Poague: Pageant Queen Child Murder Trial
Posted at 5:30 PM, December 5, 2025 last updated 5:31 PM, December 5, 2025
SUMTER COUNTY, Ga. (Court TV) — A former Georgia pageant queen was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years after she was convicted of killing her boyfriend’s toddler son.
Trinity Madison Poague was arrested on Jan. 19, 2024, five days after 18-month-old Romeo Angeles was found unresponsive in her college dorm room on Georgia Southwestern State University’s campus. Angeles, who is also referred to as “Jaxton Dru” and “J.D.,” later died at a hospital.
Trinity Poague cries as the verdict is read on Dec. 5, 2025. (Court TV)
In total, Poague faced six charges: malice murder, cruelty to children in the first degree, two counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated battery. Poague pleaded not guilty last year. The jury convicted her of five of the charges, acquitting her only of malice murder.
As a matter of law, Poague was sentenced on counts 2 and 6: felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children. For count 2, the judge sentenced her to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Poague was given an additional 20 years in prison for count 6, to run concurrently.
An indictment obtained by Court TV accused Poague of “inflicting blunt force trauma” to Angeles’ head and torso. The indictment stated Poague caused “serious disfigurement to his liver” and “rendered his brain useless,” which prosecutors argued at trial.
According to WALB, Poague was crowned Miss Donalsonville in 2023. Donalsonville is approximately four hours south of Atlanta, near the Alabama/Florida/Georgia borderline. Early County News reported that Poague was stripped of her title following her arrest.
DAILY TRIAL UPDATES
DAY 4 – 12/5/25
- LIVESTREAM: GA v. Trinity Madison Poague – Day 4 | Pageant Queen Child Murder Trial
- State’s closing argument delivered by District Attorney Lewis Lamb:
- Argued it’s “undisputed” that J.D.’s death was from massive head trauma
- Argued the medical doctors testified the timeframe between the injury and J.D.’s initial symptoms was “very quick”
- Argued Poague was the only person left alone with J.D. during the timeframe
- WATCH: State: ‘Only One Person Was Alone With J.D… Defendant Trinity Poague’
- Defense’s closing argument delivered by W.T. “Tim” Gamble III:
- Urged the jury to focus on reasonable doubt
- Argued there was no evidence of a violent, massive-force injury in Poague’s dorm room
- Argued Poague was an immature teen in a relationship with a 23-year-old man and made comments about not liking J.D., but no one testified they witnessed her cause harm to J.D.
- Argued J.D.’s death was a tragedy and the defense and prosecutors don’t know what really happened
- WATCH: Trinity Poague Defense: ‘Not a Single Person Can Say Who Hurt J.D.’
- State’s rebuttal argument delivered by District Attorney Lewis Lamb:
- Argued J.D. didn’t have any visible injuries when Poague’s roommate saw him around 10 p.m. on Jan. 13
- Argued only two possibilities for J.D.’s injuries are accidental trauma or inflicted trauma, but accidental trauma is not a realistic explanation
- Argued Dr. Olek testified a fall from the bed could not have caused the nature and extent of J.D.’s injuries
- Argued that Williams’ testimony was credible and he had no reason to hurt his son
- The jury deliberated for nearly three hours before reaching a verdict.
- Poague was convicted of counts 2-6, and acquitted on count 1: malice murder.
- WATCH: Pageant Queen Child Murder Trial: Watch the Verdict!
- As a matter of law, Poague was sentenced on counts 2 and 6: felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children. For count 2, the judge sentenced her to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Poague was given an additional 20 years in prison for count 6, to run concurrently.
DAY 3 – 12/4/25
- LIVESTREAM: GA v. Trinity Madison Poague – Day 3 | Pageant Queen Child Murder Trial
- Both sides rested their case.
- S.A. Samantha Fort, GBI, testified about text messages from Poague to Williams and internet search terms on Poague’s device.
- Two witnesses testified they had no issues when Poague babysat their children in the past.
- Two GSW students and former dormmates of Poague testified they heard the toddler crying consistently when with Poague.
DAY 2 – 12/3/25
- LIVESTREAM: GA v. Trinity Madison Poague – Day 2 | Pageant Queen Child Murder Trial
- The state briefly recalled J.D.’s father, Williams, so jurors could see the jacket he wore as he rushed his son to the hospital. Williams identified a stain on the sleeve as his son’s vomit and said he has never washed the jacket because “it’s the last thing I got to remember of him.”
- Emergency room doctor Michael Busman told jurors 18-month-old J.D. arrived at the Sumter ER pulseless and not breathing, with signs of a skull fracture and a liver laceration on imaging. Busman said head trauma and bleeding in the brain killed the child, not any “odd problem” or other underlying condition.
- WATCH: Doctor: Toddler ‘Completely Unresponsive’ at Emergency Room
- Busman testified that with a skull fracture and brain bleed of that size, major symptoms would appear within minutes, not the next day. He said it was “highly unlikely” J.D. could have been injured the night before and still be acting normally on Sunday morning.
- Busman also described chart notes that captured initial accounts provided by Poague and Williams to hospital staff. One entry attributed to Poague said J.D. was “not acting right” and that she might have shaken him a little to get a response. A later nursing note recorded Poague saying J.D. had been eating chips and drinking Mountain Dew, started “not acting right,” got weak and would not respond even when she squeezed his cheeks and tapped his face. A separate note reflected Williams telling staff the child had fallen about five minutes before arrival.
- ER doctor Jill Olek took over care from Busman and told jurors the baby “died as a result of massive head trauma.” Olek said there was a “zero percent” chance CPR caused the liver tear, noting the injury was on the right lobe, away from where compressions are performed. Olek opined that the injury’s severity fit high-force blunt trauma, not a short fall.
- GBI medical examiner Dr. Anthony Clark described a complex fracture at the base of J.D.’s skull, bleeding on the brain, and a crushed right lobe of the liver and adrenal gland. He told jurors those injuries required very high, focused force and said the head trauma, in his opinion, would have killed J.D. within “seconds to minutes” after the impact. Clark said the overall injury pattern was not consistent with a simple household fall from a bed or chair.
- Suitemate Parris Purmort told jurors she saw J.D. in the shared common area around 10 p.m. Saturday. Purmort said he was awake and acting normal for him, and she did not see obvious bruising on his face or any other signs of injury.
- Through Purmort, the state introduced earlier messages where Poague vented about J.D. and the strain of the relationship, including an August 2023 message where Poague said she felt anger toward J.D., “like I want to punch him, lmfao omg that sounds so bad.” Purmort also recalled Poague saying in person that she sometimes got so angry she wished she could “run him over” with her car. Purmort said she didn’t take those statements seriously, figuring Poague was just venting during a volatile relationship.
- Purmort then walked jurors through messages from the weekend of the incident that showed Poague frustrated about being left with J.D. and resenting the way the toddler affected her relationship with Williams. After J.D. was rushed to the hospital, Poague texted Purmort, “I didn’t do it Parris, I would never lay my hands on any kid.”
DAY 1 – 12/2/25
- LIVESTREAM: GA v. Trinity Madison Poague – Day 1 | Pageant Queen Child Murder Trial
- State’s opening statement delivered by District Attorney Lewis Lamb:
- WATCH: Pageant Queen Child Murder Trial: ‘Trinity Poague Resented This Child’
- Romeo Angeles (also referred to as Jaxton Dru “JD” Angeles) was born June 25, 2022, in Tallahassee
- The child lived with Julian Williams and his sister from 3-4 months old
- Williams began a relationship with defendant Trinity Poague, who started attending Georgia Southwestern University in Americus in August 2023
- Lamb argued Poague resented the child and wanted her own child with Williams, not to be in a stepmother role
- Lamb cited various text messages Poague sent to her roommate saying she wanted to punch the child and that they hated each other
- On Jan. 13, 2024, Williams brought Angeles to Americus to stay with Poague at her dorm
- Poague texted her roommate later that night asking to sleep in her room for a “mental break”
- Angeles allegedly fell off the bed that night, but appeared fine, with Poague taking videos showing no injuries
- On Jan. 14, Angeles woke up healthy, ate Fritos and drank Mountain Dew
- Williams left for 35-36 minutes to get pizza; when he returned, Poague called saying child wasn’t breathing
- Angeles had fresh bruising on face, forehead, neck, and cheeks when brought to ER and had a fractured occipital bone, brain bleeding, and massive liver laceration
- Lamb argued medical experts will testify injuries occurred minutes before ER arrival, during time child was alone with Poague
- Angeles died approximately 3 hours after arriving at hospital
- Defense’s opening statement delivered by W.T. “Tim” Gamble III:
- WATCH: Pageant Queen Child Murder Trial: Trinity ‘Fed, Took Care of the Child’
- Argued case is based on suspicion without evidence; Poague is second victim, accused of crime she didn’t commit
- Poague was 18-year-old honor student at GSW studying nursing with straight A’s in the first semester
- Argued Williams was a controlling 22-year-old boyfriend, who demanded social media passwords and monitored her activities
- Williams failed to establish legal paternity and didn’t take child to routine doctor appointments
- Poague had extensive babysitting experience and cared for Angeles when Williams brought him to visit
- Gamble argued Poague was with Angeles for a limited time from Saturday 6 PM to Sunday noon, mostly with Williams present, and the child was refusing to eat or drink
- Gamble argued that at the hospital, Williams told various conflicting stories about what happened to Angeles
- Gamble argued the investigation was flawed – GBI and Americus PD found no physical evidence at crime scene
- Gamble argued investigators threw away diaper with apparent blood in fecal matter before testing
- Argued Poague and Williams showered together before he left for pizza; she got out 5 minutes after him and he was holding Angeles, who was crying
- Poague noticed child in distress when Williams returned and couldn’t keep head up
- Following opening statements, multiple law enforcement personnel testified about responding to the call at the ER and securing Poague’s dorm room. The jury saw clips of Poague, Williams and Angeles coming and going from the dorm in the time around the alleged incident.
Portions of this story were reported by a journalist and have been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
