A Bronx man has been indicted on murder and manslaughter charges for allegedly throwing his 2-year-old son into the Bronx River, killing him and sparking a month-long search that ended in heartbreak, Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced Thursday.
Arius Williams, 20, of Hunts Point, was arraigned in Bronx Supreme Court on two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree menacing. He was remanded and is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 9.
“Montrell was seen alive and standing near his father moments before the defendant allegedly picked the two-year-old up and threw him into the Bronx River, causing his death,” DA Clark said. “The defendant would not tell the boy’s mother and grandmother where Montrell was and the child’s body was not found until a month later, causing agony to the family.”
According to the investigation, the incident began on May 10, Mother’s Day weekend, when Williams attended a family gathering at his mother’s home. After getting into an argument, he allegedly stormed out with his son, Montrell.
Family members attempted to locate the toddler and questioned Williams when he appeared hours later at an aunt’s house without the child, but he refused to say where Montrell was.
The next day, May 11, Williams failed to return the child to his mother, as required by a court-ordered visitation agreement. On May 12, Montrell’s mother filed a petition in Family Court seeking his return. A judge issued a warrant on May 28, ordering Williams to produce the child.
On June 8, nearly a month after Montrell disappeared, the child’s mother confronted Williams. According to prosecutors, Williams pulled out a knife and admitted to throwing their son into a river.
Three days later, on June 11, NYPD divers recovered Montrell’s body from the East River, near the Whitestone Bridge. Surveillance footage obtained by investigators allegedly shows Montrell standing with his father for a brief time before being picked up and thrown from a Bruckner Expressway overpass.
