A New Jersey court gave the life sentence to the father who killed his 2-year-old daughter by strapping her to a car seat and throwing her into a creek.
Arthur Morgan III got life imprisonment without parole Wednesday, at a Freehold court in New Jersey. He was convicted in April for child endangerment and interference with custody.
The 29-year-old was supposed to return Tierra Morgan-Glover to her mother Imani Benton after a custodial visit. However, he drowned the child at Shark River Park in Monmouth County November 2011 as revenge against Benton who called off their marriage. Prosecutors had previously stated that Morgan "weighed down her (Tierra) pink car seat with a tire jack."
According to Morgan, Tierra was alive when he tossed her into the creek adding that he heard her crying while he went to a nearby liquor store.
Morgan would have been qualified for death sentence had not the state abolished execution in 2007. "You would be candidate No. 1. (for execution) Your actions were horrific, unthinkable and appalling," said Superior Court Judge Anthony J Mellaci.
Morgan apologized for his actions to Benton. "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 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."
But Benton said she hoped Morgan suffered in prison. "I don't understand why she was taken from me," Benton said. "...Morgan will pay for what he did to her, to me and to everyone else. No good will come to him."
