Man Who Threw Baby Son to His Death Found Guilty

Tony Moreno insisted the infant slipped from his grasp
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 22, 2017 4:30 PM CST
Man Who Threw Baby Son to His Death Found Guilty
Tony Moreno demonstrates to the jury how he held his son Aaden on the railing of the Arrigoni Bridge in the final moments of Aaden's life, during Moreno's trial Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in Middletown, Ct.    (Patrick Raycraft/Hartford Courant via AP, Pool)

A Connecticut man was convicted of murder Wednesday for throwing his baby son off a 90-foot-high bridge to his death, the AP reports. Tony Moreno, 23, of Middletown, was convicted by a jury that deliberated for a short time Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. He faces up to 70 years in prison when he's sentenced May 18. Moreno threw 7-month-old Aaden off the Arrigoni Bridge that spans the Connecticut River between Middletown and Portland on July 15, 2015, and then jumped intending to kill himself, prosecutors said. Moreno spent several days in the hospital. Aaden's body was found by a kayaker 14 miles downstream two days later.

Moreno had a strained relationship with the boy's mother, prosecutors said. The mother, 20-year-old Adrianne Oyola, testified that things got worse when she refused his marriage proposal a month before the baby's death. The two shared custody of Aaden. A police officer and a hospital psychiatrist testified that Moreno made statements indicating that he had killed the child. Prosecutors also introduced text messages between Moreno and Oyola as evidence, including one where in response to a question about Aaden's whereabouts, Moreno wrote: "He's dead. Soon I will be too." A crying Moreno testified in his own defense, saying the baby slipped from his arms and he never intended to harm him. (More child murder stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X