A New Jersey man who killed his 2-year-old daughter by throwing her into a creek while she was strapped into a car seat tied to a tire jack was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.
Arthur Morgan III, of Monmouth County, was furious that the girl's mother ended their relationship and wanted to rob her of the 'most precious thing in her life,' according to the prosecution.
Judge Anthony Mellaci Jr. lamented that New Jersey abolished the death penalty before handing down his sentence.
'You'd be candidate No. 1 for its imposition,' he told Morgan. 'Your actions were horrific, unthinkable and appalling.'
In court, Morgan begged forgiveness from his ex-girlfriend Imani Benton - but not for murdering their daughter, Tierra, in November 2011. He apologized for their romance ending.
'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, according to bberitaa.blogspot.com.
Benton says she wants Morgan to suffer in prison.
'I don't understand why she was taken from me,' Benton said. 'It does give me peace to know that she is in Heaven with God, and (Morgan) will pay for what he did to her, to me and to everyone else. No good will come to him.'
Morgan inexplicably insisted that he was a good father when asked to explain his actions, which resulted in last month's murder conviction.
He said that - until the killing - his life was dedicated to keeping Imani comfortable and Tierra safe.
The courtroom found this claim impossible to swallow.
'This child was alive when she was placed in the water in pitch darkness, and had to suffer the unthinkable action of having water rush in and fill her lungs while strapped into that car seat,' the judge said. 'This child suffered before she died.'
With News Wire Services
mwalsh@nydailynews.com
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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