The child s burned and dismembered remains were found around 3 a.m. Saturday, buried under a shed in the yard of Griner s home.
Griner told police she hit the boy because he wouldn t eat nor listen to her, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint said Griner admitted striking the child so hard that she left bruises on his face and also said he fell down a flight of stairs. After striking the child, she didn t call for help, but placed him in a stroller and left him alone.
Griner told police responding to the abduction report that a stranger had attacked her while she was walking with her toddler in a stroller and her infant son strapped to her chest, according to the complaint. She said her assailant kicked her and she fell to the ground as the attacker continued to kick her in the head and right side.
N.J. mom ‘doesn’t deny’ destroying child’s remains, but didn’t cause death, attorney says
Updated Jan 28, 2021;
Posted Jan 28, 2021
Nakira Griner, of Bridgeton, appears before Judge Robert Malestein in Cumberland County Superior Court for a post-indictment arraignment , Monday, Oct. 7, 2019. Griner is charged with killing her 23-month-old son.Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media
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Those statements are made in a motion filed by the attorney for Nakira M. Griner, 26, of Bridgeton, who is charged in the death of 23-month-old Daniel Griner Jr. in February 2019.
Attorney Jill Cohen is asking that the most serious charge against her client first-degree murder be tried separately from charges of desecrating human remains and tampering with evidence. Cohen argues that Griner wouldn’t get a fair trial on the murder charge if the same jury heard the charges together.