Tony Moreno, 23, received a 70-year Prison Sentence on Wednesday, which follows his February conviction for throwing his infant son, Aedan, off a bridge in 2015. Judge Elpedio Vitale, Superior Court, Middletown, CT, said the depravity speaks for itself. The maximum penalty was imposed during the sentencing hearing.
July 5, 2015, Moreno and the 7-month-old boy’s mother, who had been in a relationship with Moreno, were in an argument, which led to an exchange of angry text messages. The hostile tone soon turned to ominous remarks. Moreno made statements about taking their infant son away from his mother, Adrianne Oyola.
Baby’s father sent text messages along the way to bridge
Moreno and Oyola had joint custody. A week before he threw their son into the Connecticut River, they had signed an agreement. The baby was in his custody the night he walked to the bridge with the baby in a stroller. He sent text messages along the way as he walked.
Moreno told her that she would not talk to him again the next day or any day afterward and to enjoy her life without them. He wrote that their son was dead and that he, too, would soon be dead. She had pleaded with Moreno not hurt their son.
He called Denise Moreno, his mother, telling her to pick up the baby’s stroller and his phone with photos of his child. His mother and his brother, Aaron Moreno hurried to the Arrigoni Bridge.
They called 911 on their way, reporting that Moreno was going to jump. Police responded.
Moreno’s mother watched as he threw himself over bridge
His mother and Austin Smith, a police officer, called out to Moreno. After he told them to stay away, he walked away and kept walking when they yelled at him to stop. His mother, brother, Smith and a second officer, who arrived on the scene, watched while Moreno threw himself over the bridge.
Approximately a half hour later, Moreno was pulled out of the river. An empty baby stroller was found near the bridge, but not the baby.
Fire and police responders searched for the infant. It was too late. Moreno already threw his son off the bridge, which was 90-feet high. The infant’s body was found by a kayaker 14 miles downstream two days later, in East Haddam, following a search with helicopters and dive teams.
Moreno confessed to police and to a psychiatrist
While in intensive care at Hartford Hospital, Moreno had confessed to a police detective not very long after he regained consciousness. Additionally, and with an officer present, he also confessed to one of the hospital’s psychiatrists.
A jury convicted Moreno of risk of injury to a minor and of murder February 22, though he asserted that it was an accident and that his son slipped from his hands. His intention, he claimed, was to commit suicide. Norman Pattis, Moreno’s attorney, asked for the minimum sentence – 25 years. Murder automatically disqualifies him from parole eligibility.
Judge Vitale said that Moreno had taunted Oyola and called his text messages demonic.
The times stamps of the messages were key for prosecutors in making their case, evidencing Moreno’s intent to kill his son by establishing the timeline leading to when he threw the baby from the bridge.
Eugene Calistro, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney General, stated during the sentencing hearing that Moreno heinously severed the sacred bond between parent and child by killing his son.
