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Mom Allegedly Beat Toddler To Death And Burned His Body Because Her Refused To Eat Or 'Listen To Her'
Nakira Griner initially told police her 23-month-old son Daniel had been kidnapped by a random attacker, but then changed her story, according to a criminal complaint.
A New Jersey mom is accused of beating her toddler son to death, then burning his body and claiming he was abducted.
Nakira M. Griner, 24 of Bridgeton filed a report with police on police on Friday evening claiming that her 23-month-old son Daniel Griner Jr., was abducted, according to the Bridgeton Police Department. She claimed a stranger attacked her while she was walking with Daniel in a stroller and her other infant son strapped to her chest, according to the complaint cited by the Associated Press. She claimed the attacker kicked her, causing her to fall, and that he continued kicking her, including in the head, while she was on the ground.
She also told police her toddler son “liked going with strangers and she did not remember if she heard him screaming during the attack,” according to NJ.com.
However, authorities don't believe that elaborate story.
Just hours later, in the middle of the night, the body of Daniel was found in Nakira Griner’s backyard. He had been burned and dismembered and buried under a shed, the Associated Press reports. His exact cause of death has not yet been disclosed.
Griner later admitted to police she hit Daniel so hard his face bruised up because he would neither "eat nor listen to her," according to the criminal complaint. She also claimed he fell down the stairs. After the injuries, Griner said she left him in his stroller.
Police say her stories changed a few different times.
Griner has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, second-degree desecration of human remains, and fourth-degree tampering with evidence.
Griner is due in court for a detention hearing on Thursday. It’s not clear if she has a lawyer who can speak on her behalf.
Bridgeton Chief of Police Michael Gaimari lauded the efforts of officers and detectives from the local department, prosecutor's office, state police and other agencies who worked tirelessly through the night on both the initial search for presumed missing child and the subsequent criminal investigation,” police wrote about the finding of Daniel.
