A Bridgeton woman accused of killing her toddler son and trying to hide his remains was ordered held in Cumberland County Jail on Tuesday.
Nakira Griner didn’t appear at the hearing, with attorney Kimberly Schultz said it would be “detrimental” to the mother of two who is in protective custody and on suicide watch.
The 23-month-old boy was reported missing by his mother, who said she was assaulted and the boy taken. Her younger son was unharmed.
The investigation led back to Griner’s Woodland Drive home, where the window were opened and fans were on, and an officer said it smelled like something had been burned, Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Vogelsong said.
Griner’s story also began to change, according to the charges.
So Daniel Griner Sr. was called to the home and asked if anything seemed out of place.
That’s when he noticed a large pink-trimmed bag that his wife normally kept inside the home out by the shed.
Inside, investigators found the remains of the little boy, who had been dismembered and burned.
Griner, 24, eventually told police that she had struck Daniel Jr. when he refused to eat, and then took him out in the stroller and left him.
Video surveillance showed her walking with the stroller with the boy inside, and then returning without him, Vogelsong said.
Griner likely was suffering from postpartum that may have started with Daniel’s birth and intensified when his younger brother was born, Schultz said.
But there was no indication in Griner’s medical history of postpartum, Vogelsong told the Judge Robert Malestein.
Outside, protesters also questioned Griner unintentionally killing the child.
“At some point in time, she came to her senses,” said Judy Williams, who made the call for protesters in a Facebook post. “Why didn’t she call for help then?”
Instead, she covered up what she had done, said Nadia Russell, who worked with the little boy’s father at a nursing home years ago when Daniel Sr. was a licensed practical nurse.
He is now a registered nurse, said Russell, the mother of a 9-year-old.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Keishla Ayala, a protester who went to Vineland High School with the accused killer.
“She was a beautiful wife with a husband who took care of her and a beautiful home and family,” she said. “It’s outrageous to me.”
Two family members who attended to support Nadira Griner left without commenting to the media.
Griner is charged with murder, child endangerment, desecration of human remains and tampering with evidence.
