In the summer of 2015, just after 11:30 p.m., Tony Moreno made a desperate call to his mother. The young father was on the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown, Connecticut and she was afraid her son might try to kill himself.
To make matters even worse, Moreno was with his 7-month-old son, Aaden. Moreno asked his mother to come get the baby’s stroller and collect his cellphone, which had photos of Aaden. He also told her, “Just tell everybody that I’m sorry.” Then he jumped.
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Friday, Moreno’s mother, Denise Moreno, testified at his murder trial. She recounted the phone conversation she had with her son. She recalled how she raced to the scene with Tony’s brother and how she tried to call him back and she called 911.
Denise arrived on scene at the same time as the responding officers. They witnessed Tony throw himself from the bridge into the water below. However, they never saw Aaden. Investigators allege Tony had already thrown his son to his death.
According to court documents, Tony sent Aaden’s mom a series of chilling text messages before the boy was killed, including “enjoy your new life without us.”
The boy’s dead body was recovered two days later.
Tony was pulled from the river soon after jumping, and he was hospitalized for serious injuries before being charged with murder and risk of injury to a child. Police say he later confessed to them, and a judge has ruled that his confession is admissible as evidence.
As one officer previously alleged in court, according to the Courant: “[Tony] didn’t want his son being raised by his girlfriend’s family, so he knew what he needed to do, which was kill his son then kill himself. [The hospital psychiatrist] asked if he expected to die from jumping off the bridge, and his response was ‘That was the plan.’”
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However, an officer testified Friday at the trial that in the immediate aftermath of jumping, Tony wouldn’t tell authorities what happened to his son, according to the Register.
“I went up, I got right up in his face and asked him were the baby was,” the officer said.
The first officer on the scene that night also testified Friday, describing how he urged Tony not to jump.
“I said, ‘Tony, stop!’ and he looked at me and began to quicken his pace,” the officer said. “Moments later, [Tony] put both of his hands on the railing to his right and hurled himself over.”
Tony faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted, according to local news reports. The evidentiary portion of the trial is expected to last eight days, according to the Register, and Aaden’s mother is expected to testify.
Tony previously rejected a plea deal and his defense will reportedly seek lesser charges of manslaughter.
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[H/T People]
