By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

A 22-year-old woman who has been charged in the death of her infant son must take random drug and alcohol tests while she is out on bond awaiting trial, a Shelby County Circuit Court judge has ruled.

On April 29, Judge Dan Reeves ordered Maylene resident Sommer Nicole WIlford to “report immediately for random drug and alcohol screenings at the Shelby County Work Release Facility” while the suspect is out on bond.

“The fees associated with said drug testing may be waived upon defendant filing an affidavit of hardship,” read the court order.

Wilford submitted the affidavit of economic hardship after she was arraigned on one felony count of reckless murder during a May 5 hearing at the Shelby County Courthouse.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Wilford and charged her with one count of reckless murder 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 outside the vehicle that was engulfed in flames.” After Alabaster firefighters extinguished the fire, they discovered the body of 19-month-old Jayden Allen inside the vehicle.

Wilford was released from the Shelby County Jail on March 20 after multiple individuals put their properties up as collateral on her $300,000 bond.

In his motion requesting random drug and alcohol tests be added as a condition of Wilford’s bond, Bradley wrote Wilford “is alleged to have been under the influence of both drugs and alcohol, well in excess of the legal limit, at the time of the death of Jayden Brodie Allen and that this level of intoxication directly contributed to and/or caused the death of” the infant.

In a motion filed on April 28, Wilford’s attorney, Leonard Kenneth Moore, requested all drug testing costs be waived for Wilford if Reeves requires her to take them. Moore claimed Wilford “is indigent without funds in which to pay for possible court-ordered drug testing,” and wrote “… she does not have the funds to support herself.”

Reckless murder is a Class A felony. If convicted, Wilford could face between 10 years and life in prison.