Bridgeton, NJ, Woman Gets Life For Brutally Killing Her Own Child

Authorities in Cumberland County say a 28-year-old woman from Bridgeton will be spending the rest of her life in prison for brutally killing her 23-month-old child.

On Tuesday, Nakira Griner was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty of,

First-degree murder
Second-degree desecration of human remains
Second-degree endangering the welfare of a child
Fourth-degree tampering with evidence
Second-degree false public alarm

Griner was found guilty on January 4th after a two-week jury trial.

The Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office says on the evening of February 8th, 2019, Griner reported her 23-month-old child, Daniel Griner, Jr., was abducted while she was walking to a store. After a search, the child's burnt remains were found in her yard later that night.

An autopsy concluded the child died from blunt-force trauma.

According to reporting by WCAU-TV,

After claiming an abduction, Griner later told police that the child accidentally fell down a flight of stairs in the family home, authorities said. Prosecutors allege that she said in phone calls from jail — which were presented at trial — that she “did what she did to him” to cover up bruising on his body.

Griner had been offered a plea deal in October 2019. Prosecutors offered a 30-year prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to the murder charge. She declined and instead chose to go to trial.

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In opening remarks, Griner's defense attorney said that she admitted to burning and dismembering her son's body but denied intentionally killing the child, according to NJ.com.

It was also reported that expert testimony showed the toddler's skull had been broken into 74 pieces and that the body had been burnt in an oven.

With previous reporting from Townsquare Media's Rick Rickman.