A woman from New Jersey was found guilty on Wednesday of beating, murdering, dismembering, and burning her 23-month-old son, which she later tried to cover up to the local authorities as an abduction of some sort.
The 28-year-old mother Nakira Griner from Bridgeton, New Jersey was found guilty of multiple charges, including first-degree murder, second-degree desecration of human remains, fourth-degree tampering with evidence, and second-degree false public alarm, among other charges, according to NBC 4 New York.
Griner had called local authorities in February 2019 to claim that her 23-month-old son, Daniel Griner, Jr., was abducted after a man had pushed her while she was pushing him around in a stroller and kicked her repeatedly on the ground before leaving with the child and the stroller, Law & Crime reported.
However, her story reportedly changed over time, and she failed a polygraph test during the search. As local authorities investigated the case further, they found Daniel’s remains in the family’s yard later that night using their canine detectors, after which Griner claims that the baby had fallen down the stairs.
An autopsy, later on, found that he had died due to blunt force trauma, with multiple bone fractures suffered across his body. Prosecutors claim that she reportedly did her actions as an attempt to cover up the baby’s bruises, and Griner later admitted that she murdered her son because he “would not eat nor listen to her.”
Her attorney pushed during the trial that her actions to Daniel were not done “knowingly and purposefully” to cause his death, and that she was reportedly suffering from “a crisis and a clear mental break” during the incident.
Griner’s sentencing will be on Feb. 21. Due to the baby’s age, the judge has said that a life imprisonment sentence with no parole is in play, though it is unclear if she will eventually get it.
