Woman charged with reckless murder after infant dies in vehicle fire
Published 11:21 am Friday, February 28, 2014
By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor
A 22-year-old Maylene woman has been charged with one felony count of reckless murder after an infant died in a vehicle fire in Alabaster on Feb. 28.
The Alabaster Police Department arrested Sommer Nicole Wilford on Feb. 28 after responding to a report of a one-vehicle accident near the intersection of Alabama 119 and Kent Dairy Road.
According to Alabaster Police, when officers arrived on the scene, they found Wilford “standing out side the vehicle that was engulfed in flames.”
“When firefighters extinguished the fire, officers located the remains of an infant, presumed to be 19-month-old Jayden Allen, infant son of Wilford, inside the vehicle,” read a police press release.
After the Alabaster Police Traffic Homicide team investigated the scene, they arrested Sommer Wilford and charged her with one count of reckless murder.
“We are all saddened by the senseless death of this child, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family,” Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney wrote in a release. “The investigation is still ongoing and it may be months before all the evidence in this case has been processed.”
Sommer Wilford currently is being held in the Shelby County Jail on a $300,000 bond.
On Feb. 28, Rigney had not returned a call to confirm if alcohol or drugs were factors in the incident.