Arthur Morgan III Sentenced to Life; Judge Regrets NJ No Longer Has Death Penalty for Killer Who Murdered 2-Year-Old
Arthur Morgan III will spend the rest of his life behind bars for taking the life of his 2-year-old daughter by throwing her, still alive, into a creek while she was strapped into her weighted car seat. Morgan apologized before being led away, but not for murdering the little girl.
"I want to say I'm sorry for the deterioration of what I thought was a beautiful friendship between the two of us that blossomed into a daughter," Morgan told Tierra's mother, Imani Benton. "For anybody that was truly affected by this, I hope we can all heal from this situation, knowing Tierra is in a better place."
The case shocked the New Jersey town of Freehold after details were released about the heinous crime. Morgan III took Tierra, strapped her into her car seat and weighed the seat down with a tire jack before throwing her into a creek in November 2011.
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Experts testified that the baby girl was still alive when she hit the water and it took nearly five minutes for her to die.
"This child was alive when she was placed in the water in pitch darkness, and had to suffer the unthinkable action of having water rush in and fill her lungs while strapped into that car seat," Superior Court Judge Anthony Mellaci Jr. told Morgan during his sentencing hearing.
The judge added that he was sorry New Jersey had abolished the death penalty.
"You'd be candidate No. 1 for its imposition," Judge Mellaci said. "Your actions were horrific, unthinkable, and appalling."
Tierra's mother was in the courtroom and later told the press that she hopes Morgan suffers while he is in prison. The only thing that has brought her comfort since the death of Tierra is her faith in God.
"I don't understand why she was taken from me," Benton said. "It does give me peace to know that she is in Heaven with God, and Morgan will pay for what he did to her, to me and to everyone else. No good will come to him."
