Man who threw baby off bridge gets 70 years in prison

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- A man who killed his 7-month-old son when he threw the boy off a 90-foot-high bridge, then survived the plunge himself, was sentenced to 70 years in prison Wednesday.

A judge imposed the maximum prison time on Tony Moreno, 23, who was convicted by a jury in February of murder and risk of injury to a minor.

"The utter depravity of the crime, a father killing his infant son, speaks for itself," Middletown Superior Court Judge Elpedio Vitale said.

Police said the 23-year-old Moreno threw his son, Aaden, off the Arrigoni Bridge over the Connecticut River in Middletown in July 2015.

He then jumped off and was injured seriously but survived.

He testified during his trial he accidentally dropped the boy and did not intend to harm him, despite having confessed to police he threw the baby off the bridge.

Court records show Moreno exchanged angry text messages with the infant's mother in the minutes before he jumped. She pleaded with him not to hurt the boy.

"Enjoy your new life without us," Moreno wrote. "He's dead. Soon I will be too."