Arthur Morgan gets life sentence for killing his toddler by throwing her into a creek

FREEHOLD, N.J., May 28 (UPI) -- A New Jersey man, who killed his toddler daughter by throwing her into a river while she was strapped in a car seat, was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with no parole.

Arthur E. Morgan III would be "candidate No. 1" for the death penalty if New Jersey still imposed it, Superior Court Judge Anthony Mellaci said.

"There are no mitigating factors here," said Mellaci .

Teenagers found Tierra Morgan-Glover's body in Shark River Park in 2011. Investigators said that her father tied a car jack to her car seat to weigh it down and threw her into the river, leaving her alive and crying while he drove off to meet a friend and go to a liquor store.

Morgan was arrested on Nov. 29, 2011, in San Diego, a week after his daughter's body was found.

A jury convicted Morgan earlier this year of intentional murder. Under New Jersey's 1982 death penalty law, which was repealed in 2007 without any executions being held, killing a child was one of the aggravating factors for the death penalty.

At the time of the killing, Morgan was living in his car, although prosecutors said he spent much of his money on brand-name clothes. Tierra was living with her mother.

When Morgan picked his daughter up for an afternoon out, he told her mother he was taking her to see Happy Feet II.