US father jailed 70 years for throwing baby son into river

A Connecticut father was jailed for 70 years on Wednesday for killing his son by throwing him into a river before jumping in himself during a failed suicide attempt, media reported.

New Haven District Superior Court Judge Elpedio Vitale handed Tony Moreno, 23, the maximum sentence after he was found guilty of murder and risk of injury to a child by a jury in February, the Hartford Courant reported.

"The utter depravity of the crime - a father killing his infant son - speaks for itself," Vitale said, according to the newspaper.

Moreno is not eligible for parole, the paper reported.

Moreno admitted throwing his baby son, Aaden, off the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown into the Connecticut River on July 5, 2015, police said.

"Every time I wake up, I pray the nightmare will be over and my son will be in my arms," Aaden's mother, Adrianne Oyola, told Moreno during the sentencing hearing. "Just know I tried to forgive you, but that's impossible."

Moreno was pulled from the water by firefighters after jumping off the 120-foot bridge in a failed suicide attempt, police said.

During the trial, Moreno's attorney, Norman Pattis, tried to convince the jury that he went to the bridge only to kill himself. His son slipped from his hands and he did not intend to kill him, Pattis argued, the Courant reported.

"Sentences like this in my view reflect the savagery of the criminal justice system," Pattis said to the Courant. "Judge Vitale has a reputation as a heavy hitter. He lived up to that reputation today."

Pattis told the newspaper he plans to appeal.