Attempted Homicide Charge May be Dropped Against Lower Milford Mom

A Lower Milford woman may be able to plead to a lesser charge. 

Clad in an orange jumpsuit and shackles, Chelsie Grant wiped her eyes with tissues as her attorney helped her waive her preliminary hearing with the understanding that she could potentially plea to a lesser charge of felony aggravated assault instead of the current charge of attempted homicide. 

Grant, 19, is accused of "intentionally, knowingly or recklessly" attempting to cause the death of her 6-month-old son. Accoring to the criminal complaint, the boy had several injuries, including a right elbow dislocation and fractures of the right and left arms and legs. He is now in the custody of his paternal grandparents. 

Grant is currently charged with: 

• one count of attempted homicide and two counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, both first-degree felonies;

• one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a third-degree felony;

• two counts of simple assault, which are misdemeanors of the first degree;

• one count each of recklessly endangering another person and false reports to law enforcement authorities, both second-degree misdemeanors.

On Jan. 20, Grant contacted police, requesting to come in and speak to detectives regarding her son's injuries. She drove herself to the station. The complaint goes on to state that when police asked Grant to re-enact her actions using a prop, Grant "placed one hand on the child's chest and used the other hand to pull the arms of the child as far as she could several times in each direction."

"She then grabbed the ankles of the victim and twisted them in both directions and pushed both legs up towards the chest of the child and pulled them down forcefully several times."

On Jan. 25, Grant admitted to a caseworker that in fact she - not the child's father - had caused her son's injuries. She also admitted to causing the injuries on Nov. 13 by "shoving her fingers down his mouth with tissue paper for 10 or 15 seconds."

Grant admitted to similar incidents in the past -- choking her son with a spoon as well as with her hands until he passed out.