27-year-old Arthur E. Morgan III was arrested Tuesday in San Diego after an eight-day national manhunt. Morgan has been charged with murder in the November 21 death of 2-year-old Tierra Morgan-Glover.
Tierra’s mother, Imani Benton, called police that night when Morgan failed to return their daughter to her following a visit. The New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services had been involved with the couple four times since they first received a report of alleged violence between them in October 2010. At the time, Benton obtained a temporary restraining order against Morgan, but it was later dropped due to lack of evidence, a DYFS statement said.
Most recently, a caseworker visited Benton on November 10 and determined that Tierra was safe, but the case remained open for a child welfare assessment, according to the statement. Since Tierra’s death, the Department of Children and Families has opened a review of the division’s history with the family.
Tierra’s body was found on November 22 in a stream beneath an overpass in Shark River Park. A prosecutor told CNN that the location suggested that she may have been thrown from the overpass in her car seat. According to a prosecution press release, her cause of death was determined to be “homicidal violence, including submersion in water.”
Before Tierra’s body was discovered, charges of endangering the welfare of a child and interference with custody were filed against Morgan. He was charged with murder on November 23 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
A friend told police that they had dropped Morgan off alone at a train station on the night of November 21 with the understanding that he planned to take a train to Newark and travel to California from there, an FBI affidavit stated. Cell phone records indicated that he made or received calls to numbers with out-of-state area codes that day. Morgan was ultimately caught on November 29 at a home in San Diego.
Arthur Morgan III was arrested at an apartment complex in San Diego on Tuesday, ending a nationwide manhunt a week after authorities said he killed Tierra Morgan-Glover, whose body was found partly submerged in a park in Wall Township, N.J.
An expressionless Morgan walked into a hearing Thursday in San Diego and immediately signed papers waiving his right to contest extradition. If he had fought his return, it would have delayed his return by as much as 120 days.
The judge ordered him to be returned by Dec. 21 to New Jersey, where his bail was set at $10 million. Deputy District Attorney Sylvia Tenorio said Morgan will likely return before then but she said the exact date will not be made public for security reasons.
He is charged with murder, interstate flight to avoid prosecution and child custody offenses.
Child welfare authorities in New Jersey said they investigated the turbulent relationship between Morgan and his girlfriend, Imani Benton, four times in the past 13 months but could not determine that abuse or neglect was occurring.
Benton's family accuses the state's child welfare agency and the court system of not doing enough to help her. The agency said it is conducting a review of its handling of the case.
The toddler's body was found Nov. 22 in Shark River Park, about 20 miles north of her home in Lakehurst, N.J. Her cause of death was listed as "homicidal violence, including submersion in water.
After fleeing New Jersey, Morgan was the subject of a coast-to-coast manhunt and had been featured on the website of "America's Most Wanted" after the child's body was found.
The U.S. Marshals Service office in San Diego got a tip from New Jersey authorities on Tuesday that Morgan might be at a home there. Marshals conducted surveillance for most of the day. Morgan was then spotted on the home's back porch and arrested without incident.
Benton's mother, Michelle Simmons, said her family is eager to see Morgan brought to justice.
"We want to know why he did what he did to that baby," she said.
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