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    Saturday, May 11, 2024

    Mother of child thrown from bridge wants to sue DCF

    MIDDLETOWN – A year after her infant son was thrown off the Arrigoni Bridge and into the Connecticut River, the mother of Aaden Moreno has filed two separate claims totaling $15 million against the state Department of Children and Families.

    Adrianne Oyola, 19, of Middletown, is asking the office of the Claims Commissioner for permission to sue DCF on her own behalf and on behalf of the estate of her son, according to papers filed Friday with the state claims commissioner.

    Oyola says in the filings that DCF was negligent and "failed to protect" Aaden from his father, Tony Moreno, who is accused of killing the boy. State agencies typically are immune from most lawsuits unless plaintiffs are granted permission to sue by the claims commissioner. Oyola's claim seeks $5 million in compensation; the claim filed by the baby's estate says it it wants to sue the state for $10 million.

    In the weeks leading up to the baby's death, Oyola says, DCF had evidence of Moreno's "dangerous propensities directed toward both" Oyola and Aaden, including knowledge about a restraining order. But DCF officials, she says, "failed to attend" a court hearing or submit evidence that would have convinced the court to extend the restraining order.

    Oyola accuses DCF of not conducting a safety assessment after the restraining order ended.

    "They knew or should have known of Tony Moreno's violent propensities, abhorrent behavior and threats, yet failed to take appropriate action," the claims state.

    Moreno, 22, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and is awaiting trial in Superior Court in Middletown.

    Police say Moreno threw 7-month-old Aaden off the bridge and into the river on July 5, 2015. An arrest warrant affidavit states that Moreno called his mother from the bridge and asked her to pick up a phone with pictures of the baby and a stroller.

    When Moreno's mother, his brother and police officers arrived on the bridge a few minutes later, Tony Moreno jumped over the railing into the river, police said. He was rescued and hospitalized. After a two-day search of the river by authorities, a canoeist found the baby's body in waters near the East Haddam swing bridge on July 7, 2015.

    Moreno is charged with murder and murder with special circumstances. The murder with special circumstances charge was added because the victim is under age 16. Police have also charged Moreno with two counts of violating a restraining order, saying he violated such an order on June 25, 2015 when he talked to Aaden's mother and the baby at a friend's house.

    The temporary order was in place after the baby's mother applied earlier that month for a restraining order. She was denied a permanent restraining order at a hearing on June 29, 2015.

    A DCF spokesman has said DCF "received a report regarding the father," on the day the temporary restraining order was issued and "conducted a complete safety assessment that found the father was no longer in the home" because of the restraining order.

    "The safety assessment determined that mother had moved the baby to the home of a relative and was taking all appropriate and necessary steps to protect the baby," DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt said last year. "Department staff saw the mother and child on three occasions between June 19 and June 26, and the father was not allowed access to the baby by the mother. Mother agreed to receive counseling services from a community agency and was fully cooperating with our efforts."

    On Wednesday, Kleeblatt referred a call for comment to the attorney general's office, saying the office is representing DCF during the pending litigation.

    Moreno is being held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield with bail set at $2.1 million.

    Oyola's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

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