By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

A 22-year-old Maylene woman who has been charged with reckless murder in the Feb. 28 death of her infant son has asked for her bond to be reduced in the Shelby County Jail, according to court documents.

In a March 3 motion to reduce Maylene resident Sommer Nicole Wilford’s current $300,000 bond, Wilford’s attorney, L. Kenneth Moore, wrote the current bond amount “far exceeds the recommended bail schedule for the alleged offense.”

“The bail is excessive and acts as punishment for the defendant instead of securing her presence,” Moore wrote in the motion to reduce Wilford’s bond.

According to the motion, Wilford has “no prior felony convictions,” has “never failed to make a court appearance” and “has done what the court has asked of her in past occurrences.”

The Alabaster Police Department arrested 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 Wilford and charged her with one count of reckless murder.

She has remained in the Shelby County Jail on a $300,000 bond since her arrest.

In the bond reduction motion, Moore wrote, “reducing the bond will not pose a threat to defendant or the community,” and wrote the “defendant is not a danger to herself or the community.”

Moore also wrote Wilford is a “lifelong resident of Jefferson County and has strong family support,” and wrote Wilford “is economically unavailable to make existing bond.”

As of about 11 a.m. on March 4, Moore had not returned a phone call seeking comment.

As of March 4, Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves had not yet made a decision on the bond reduction request. Wilford was scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on April 2 at 8:30 a.m.

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