By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 29-year-old Bessemer woman who is facing charges alleging she caused brain damage to her infant son will stand trial on the charge in early May, after her original April court date was postponed.

Caitlin Gregory Lunceford, who lists an address on Harpers Dairy Loop in Bessemer and previously listed an address on Windsor Court in Alabaster, will now stand trial beginning on Monday, May 7. She originally was set to stand trial beginning on Monday, April 16 before Circuit Court Judge William Bostick issued an order on April 12 rescheduling it.

A Shelby County grand jury returned a one-count indictment of aggravated child abuse against Lunceford during its October 2014 term. She entered a plea of not guilty to the charge on Dec. 1, 2014, according to court records.

According to Lunceford’s indictment, she allegedly abused her infant son, who was about 2 months old and in Lunceford’s care at the time of the incident, by “striking and/or hitting and punching and/or shaking the victim.” Lunceford’s arrest warrant claimed she caused “brain damage” to the infant during the Jan. 11, 2014, incident.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Lunceford on Jan. 23, 2014, and charged her with the Class B felony. The suspect was released from the Shelby County Jail on a $30,000 bond the day after her arrest.

In February 2014, Lunceford requested a previous court order denying her contact with her child be lifted, and requested she be allowed supervised visitation for one hour three nights per week. No ruling has been entered on the matter.

In a motion filed in September 2014, Lunceford’s attorneys again requested Lunceford be granted supervised visitation with the child, claiming “The failure of the child to spend time with its mother can create significant long-term adverse consequences with the child.”

If convicted, Lunceford could face up to 20 years in prison.