CLEARFIELD — An Altoona woman facing felony charges in relation to the assault of her son waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court in Clearfield County.

Ashlee Nicole Daniels, 18, is charged with felony endangering the welfare of children along with misdemeanor counts of simple assault, obstructing the administration of law and false swearing. Two additional counts of aggravated assault were withdrawn. She is free on $10,000 unsecured bail.

In December, her co-defendant, Nicholas James Cowder, 22, of Clearfield, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on two counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor counts of simple assault, obstructing the administration of law, recklessly endangering another person and statement under penalty. His bail is $25,000 unsecured.

The charges stem from an incident in late September 2024 when the 15-month-old child suffered a broken tibia and a contusion on his head.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were called by employees of UPMC Altoona, regarding a boy who had injuries indicating child abuse. Daniels had inconsistencies in her story as to how the child was hurt and delayed the boy’s treatment for a few days.

Initially, Daniels told investigators the victim was sleeping between her and Cowder at his Clearfield home when he fell out of the bed.

When Cowder was questioned, he stated he was asleep when it happened.

In their various interviews, the two mentioned the child had also fallen down the steps and had hit his head on a doorway.

Messages between them “appeared to turn into a dispute between the two about which day it happened,” police said.

The bed incident happened Tuesday, Sept. 24, and both said the victim was not himself the next day and wanted to be carried. They didn’t notice him having trouble walking until Thursday, Sept. 26, and he was taken to the hospital on Friday, Sept. 27, they told authorities.

Eventually, Daniels said she put the boy in a timeout chair and he fell off the chair on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

A witness told authorities Cowder told her on Sept. 22 the boy had fallen down the stairs. He had a small mark under his eye, which was gone a few days later and he appeared fine, she said. A second witness stated that she noticed the child having problems putting pressure on his leg, but she did not know what had happened to him.

In a second interview, Daniels admitted that Cowder was upset with the victim and put him in timeout on a white lawn chair. After the boy attempted to stand up on the chair, Cowder then “forcefully” pushed the child back onto the chair, “causing his leg to buckle” and causing him to scream and cry, she told police. He tried to stand on the chair again and fell down, she reported.

She confessed that she and Cowder agreed to tell hospital staff, CYS and police that the boy fell off the bed, according to the criminal complaint.

During his third interview, Cowder reportedly admitted to pushing the child onto the chair in frustration as his leg got stuck and buckled, confirming Daniels’ last account. He also confessed that they conspired to lie to authorities.