Khaleesi case: Homicide suspect pleads not guilty, second suspect wants change of venue
STAUNTON — Two suspects charged with murder in the killing of a Staunton girl both had court hearings Tuesday as the first of two murder trials is set to begin in less than two weeks.
In Augusta County Circuit Court, Travis Brown, 31, was arraigned in the morning on charges of aggravated murder, murder, child abuse, concealing a dead body, conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit child abuse and conspiracy to conceal a dead body. Brown, who appeared in person, pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Jury selection for Brown's case begins Friday, Aug. 25, and the week-long murder trial will start the following Monday.
The second suspect in the child's death, Candi Jo Royer, 43, appeared via video monitoring in Augusta County Circuit Court later in the afternoon for a hearing on a motion for a change of venue. Royer is expected to go on trial in mid-October. She faces the same felony charges as Brown, including aggravated murder.
Brown and Royer are accused of abusing and killing 3-year-old Khaleesi Cuthriell.
The girl was the daughter of a Staunton woman who authorities said handed her child over to Royer in October 2020, just days before she was taken to Middle River Regional Jail. About 11 months later in September 2021, the woman, who was still being held, told a jail official Khaleesi was missing. That same month, Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith announced the girl was dead.
"Investigators from the sheriff’s office and the Virginia State Police have interviewed both suspects over the past week," a previous statement said. "The investigation has revealed Khaleesi Cuthriell died while in the care of Travis Brown and Candi Royer."
Her body was never recovered. A court filing suggests Khaleesi was killed in 2021 between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, about three months after being given to Royer.
In court Tuesday, defense attorney Dana Cormier argued for a motion he filed in an effort to prohibit jurors from hearing what he labeled "hearsay evidence" from a series of electronic messages sent by Royer to Brown. One of the communications from Royer implied Brown could be charged with murder, and he responded by threatening to kill himself, evidence showed.
"Many of the electronic communications at issue between Mr. Brown and Ms. Royer contain Ms. Royer's cryptic accusations and threats against Mr. Brown," Cormier wrote in the motion.
The messages could not be found in Brown's case file, where numerous pages of documents have been sealed prior to the trial. The communications between Royer and Brown were sent months after Khaleesi died.
"She knew what they both did, and she knew what his part was," Augusta County Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Alexandra Meador said.
Circuit Judge Shannon Sherrill ruled against the motion and will allow the messages to be used as evidence.
On Tuesday afternoon, in a motion filed by Royer's attorney, Jessica Sherman-Stoltz, she sought to have her client's trial moved to another jurisdiction. In her motion, Sherman-Stoltz said Royer can't receive a fair trial in Augusta County because "community sentiment is so emotionally charged and prejudiced" against her, and she argued local media coverage has reached thousands of people.
Sherman-Stoltz also said Sheriff Smith gave an interview to Inside Edition Digital in January 2022 where he reportedly made inflammatory statements to the media outlet. Smith told the outlet the couple were "no strangers to the system" when they agreed to speak to him without an attorney, according to the motion. He also labeled the suspects as "addicts," and said Khaleesi was killed at the home where Royer and Brown lived together on Cattle Scales Road.
Meador said during the afternoon hearing that although the Augusta County murder case has garnered a lot of attention, it's nothing compared to the amount of media coverage the Charlottesville case of James Alex Fields Jr. received. Fields was tried in Charlottesville two years after he drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters in 2017 at the "Unite the Right Rally," killing a woman. He was given life in prison.
"Even in that one they were able to seat a jury," said Meador, who noted very little information has been released in the cases of Brown and Royer.
Judge Sherrill said he will make a decision on the motion after he sees how the jury selection process goes next week in Brown's case.
Royer is being held at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail. Brown is being held at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona.
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Suspects in Staunton girl's killing appear in court as trials loom
