The jury has ended its first day of deliberations without a verdict in the trial of a Middletown father accused of throwing his 7-month-old son off the Arrigoni Bridge in 2015.
Tony Moreno maintains that he never intended to kill his son and that the child slipped from his arms and into the Connecticut River 90 feet below. Prosecutors dispute that story.
On the stand during the trial, Moreno held a baby doll in his arms that he said represented his son, Aaden, and he spoke about what happened on the night of Sunday, July 5, 2015.
Two days passed before a canoeist found Aaden's body in the water, near the East Haddam Swing Bridge.
Moreno claims that his intention was to take his own life on the bridge, not his child’s, and that Aaden slipped from his hands into the water.
Moreno jumped from the bridge, but survived after emergency crews received a call from Aaden’s mother, who that Moreno was suicidal, and responded to the scene.
Prosecutors pointed to text messages between Moreno and Aaden’s mother, from whom he was separated, to prove that Moreno went to the bridge with the intent of killing himself and their baby, including "You tried to keep him away from me and you failed. I didn't" and "he's dead," as well as "And soon you will be too."
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Defense attorney Norman Pattis told the jury Moreno made a mistake.
"On July 5, 2015, he was torn asunder by a love lost, confused about a man-child he was unprepared to raise," Pattis said.
Prosecutors and defense presented evidence for five days and the jury began deliberating around 1:50 p.m. Tuesday.
Late in the day, jurors passed a note to the judge asking to re-hear some of the testimony Moreno provided.
They left Tuesday evening without reaching a verdict and will be back to continue deliberations on Wednesday.
