Toddler Allegedly Killed, Burnt By Mother For Being Disobedient

A woman allegedly killed, dismembered and burnt her toddler son “because he would not eat nor listen to her,” according to a criminal complaint.

Nakira M. Griner, 24, of Bridgeton, New Jersey, faced charges including first-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child, desecration of human remains and tampering with evidence, in the death of her son, Daniel Griner Jr. She was scheduled to appear before a court on Thursday for detention hearing, NJ reported.

The accused originally claimed that her 23-month-old child was kidnapped. The police responded to the area of Giles and New streets, Bridgeton, around 6:30 p.m. EST, Friday, after receiving reports of a screaming woman, who turned out to be Nakira. She told the authorities she was attacked by a stranger on the Atlantic Street while walking with her son in a stroller and her infant son strapped to her chest.

The attacker kicked her, which made her fall on the ground, and continued to assault her, she claimed. When she recovered from the attack, she discovered the stroller, with Daniel in it, was gone. She said her son “liked going with strangers and she did not remember if she heard him screaming during the attack.”

After searching the area, authorities found the stroller along with a pair of red sneakers a few blocks from Atlantic on Devonshire Place. Upon further questioning, “Nakira was not able to provide any descriptions of the accused or her route she ran after the attack.”

The police also noted that the alleged kidnapper did not take a $5,000 ring that Nakira was wearing or make ransom calls. Due to the inconsistencies in her account of events, the city police, Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office and New Jersey State Police decided to launch an investigation. They conducted a search of her house and found the burnt remains of the victim in a handbag and trash bags underneath a shed in the property on Saturday.

The remains were positively identified as Daniel’s although the cause of his death was not made public by the police.

Nakira later admitted to hitting the victim so hard that it left bruises on his face because he was disobedient and refused to eat. She also said her son fell down a flight of stairs, which further added to his injuries.

"She then said that she left D.G. Jr., who was still alive, by himself on Devonshire Place because she wanted someone to find him and help him because no one would believe her," detective Veronica Cappoli, the lead investigator, wrote in the criminal complaint.

The police believe she also dismembered her child’s body before burning it.

A GoFundMe page was set up for the victim’s father, Daniel Griner Sr., by his friends and co-workers to help him cover his expenses. “He had two baby boys,” Heather Wooton, his co-worker wrote on the page. “The mother of his children killed their first born. I have no idea why. What I do know is he’s going to struggle with paying for things from here on out.”

The fundraising campaign raised $5,000 of its $7,500 goal at the time of writing this article.