Jury Decides Murder Trial Of Middletown Man Accused Of Killing 7-Month-Old Son

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Superior Court jury found Middletown’s Tony Moreno guilty of murdering his 7-month-old son by throwing him off the Arrigoni Bridge to his death in 2015, according to NBC Connecticut.

Moreno, 23, faces up to 70 years in prison when he is sentenced, according to the Hartford Courant.

In testimony last week, Moreno said that he didn’t intend to kill Aaden and dropped him. He also said that he battled deep depression and had suicidal thoughts for years before Aaden was born, the Hartford Courant previously reported.

Moreno also said that when he texted Aaden’s mother, Adrianne Oyola, to tell her that Aaden was dead, the baby was still alive and he was trying to hurt Oyola and intended to kill himself but not Aaden, according to the Courant.

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The prosecution’s closing argument, however, pointed to text messages between Moreno and Aaden’s mother, Adrianne Oyola, that they say proved he went to the bridge with the intent of killing himself and their baby, NBC Connecticut reports.

Oyola testified in the case the day before Moreno, the same day jurors were shown the text messages between her and Moreno leading up to Aaden’s death, according to the Middletown Press.

The Press reports the jury also heard three texts that police recovered from Moreno’s phone that were deleted, including one that was addressed to Aaden in which Moreno said that he hopes he gets to read someday and that he was “very sorry I didn’t get to watch you grow up and get to know the young man you’ve become …”

Shortly before midnight on July 5, 2015, Middletown Police received a 911 call that Tony Moreno was believed to be on the Arrigoni Bridge with his son, Aaden. Tony Moreno made statements that he was going to jump off the bridge, police said at the time, and arriving officers observed Moreno on the southern sidewalk of the bridge.

Within moments of the officers’ arrival, Moreno jumped over the railing before they could reach him. Police said Moreno wasn’t holding Aaden at the time, but an empty stroller was located in the immediate vicinity.

When Tony Moreno was pulled from the water by the Middletown Fire Department Marine Unit, he was unresponsive and was transported to Hartford Hospital via Life Star.

An immediate rescue effort was initiated by the Middletown Fire Department, with assistance from the South Fire District, Portland Fire and Middletown Police Dive Team.

Aaden’s body was recovered from the river on July 7.

Moreno’s attorney, Norm Pattis, previously said that Moreno would testify during the trial that he was responsible for Aaden’s death but that it wasn’t murder.

The prosecution argued that Moreno was upset about his relationship with Oyola ending, along with her rejection of two marriage proposals, and that he intentionally dropped Aaden off the bridge to his death, according to the Middletown Press.

Read more about the jury’s verdict at NBC Connecticut here and the Hartford Courant here.