Eatontown Man Who Murdered His Toddler Denied Appeal by Appellate Court Judge

TRENTON - If New Jersey still had a death penalty, Arthur E. Morgan would be "candidate No. 1," an appellate court judge told an Eatontown man convicted of drowning his two-and-a half- year old daughter in a stream.

Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. upheld Arthur E. Morgan III's sentence of life in prison on May 28, 2014. He upheld the conviction and said at the time he would have gone further if he could, according to app.com.

Morgan was convicted of the November 2011 drowning of his daughter Tierra.

If New Jersey still executed convicts, Mellaci told Morgan at the time, "You would be candidate No. 1."

Mellaci also gave Morgan a five-year sentence, to be served consecutively, for interfering with custody.
Morgan also received a one-day sentence for child endangerment, according to the state Department of Corrections' inmate records, the report says..

Morgan's public defender, Jeffrey Coghlan, said Morgan was a distraught parent who left his little girl in the stream weighed down with a tire jack, to let "God decide her fate," according to the report.

Morgan "stated that he had left his daughter in the stream because he could not bear the thought that he would not be able to see her due to conflicts with" Tierra's mother, according to the decision.

Morgan took his daughter for a visit Nov. 21. When the girl did not arrive home that night, her mother, Imani Benton, of Lakehurst, called police.

The toddler's body was found partially submerged in a stream in Shark River Park on Schoolhouse Road, authorities have said, according to a previous Patch article.

Morgan became the subject of a nationwide manhunt and was arrested at a home in East San Diego a week after the girl's body was found. He was transferred to New Jersey soon after.

Image: Patch file photo