A damning lawsuit claims that the Connecticut Department of Children and Families neglected its duty to safeguard a 7-month-old baby, Aaden Moreno, whose tragic death was a result of being thrown from a bridge by his father. This heartbreaking incident occurred despite multiple warnings from Aaden’s mother, who had repeatedly cautioned authorities about the father’s potential threat to their child.

Aaden, the infant son of Adrianne Oyola, was killed on July 7, 2015, just days after a critical temporary restraining order against his father, Tony Moreno, expired. According to Oyola’s legal complaint, the restraining order lapsed because state officials failed to attend the hearing that could have extended its duration. This lapse in protection enabled the dire outcome she had feared.

In a recent development, a Connecticut superior court judge ruled that the lawsuit can proceed to trial. The judge highlighted the presence of a “genuine issue of material fact” concerning the allegations, indicating that there are substantial grounds for the case to be explored further in court.

The horrific incident unfolded on July 5, 2015, when Tony Moreno, then 21, threw his own son, Aaden, from the Arrigoni Bridge into the Connecticut River in Middletown. In a subsequent suicide attempt, Moreno jumped off the bridge himself but survived the fall.

The legal complaint, which was updated and resubmitted earlier this month, outlines the circumstances leading up to the tragedy. It states that on June 17, 2015, a temporary restraining order was successfully obtained by Adrianne Oyola for both herself and her son against Tony Moreno. However, despite a scheduled hearing on June 29, 2015, to assess the continuation of this order, the absence of state representatives led to its expiration, leaving Aaden vulnerable to the subsequent events.

“The defendant, State of Connecticut, its agents, servants, and/or employees, knew that Tony Moreno was a danger to the decedent,” the complaint charges. “The defendant, State of Connecticut, its agents, servants and/or employees knew that Adrianne Oyola was not capable of successfully representing herself in court. Before June 29, 2015, the defendant, State of Connecticut, its agents, servants, and or employees promised Adrianne Oyola that they would help and support her during the restraining order process.”

According to Oyola, DCF officials “promised” that they would be at the June 29 hearing. But nobody showed up, per the complaint. This happened after multiple interviews with Oyola, her sister, Tony Moreno’s mother, Aaden’s pediatrician, and Moreno himself allegedly corroborated Oyola’s claims that the dad displayed dangerous and threatening behavior, the complaint says.

Oyola wrote in the application for her restraining order that Moreno’s behavior allegedly included an incident where he “told me he could make my son disappear any time of the day,” according to the judge’s ruling last week.

“Told me how he could make me disappear,” Oyola wrote in the application. “Told me how he could kill me … Told me he would put me in the ground and put something on me to make me disintegrate faster.”

Oyola said that the threats were made in February 2015, just a few months before Aaden’s death, according to the judge.

“Had someone representing the Department of Children and Families attended the June 29, 2015 hearing, that person would have recommended that the restraining order remain in place and would have provided evidence to the court that Tony Moreno was a danger,” the complaint explains. “Before June 29, 2015, the defendant, State of Connecticut, its agents, servants, and/or employees, knew that if a representative of the Department of Children and Families attended the June 29, 2015, hearing, the restraining order would have continued.”

Oyola’s complaint says that the state considered Aaden “safe at home because there was a restraining order in place” against Moreno, who was on probation for “risk of injury and sexual assault,” according to court documents.

The judge overseeing the case terminated the restraining order and directed Oyola and Moreno to work out a custody agreement for Aaden, with a meeting being arranged for July 8, 2015. Moreno threw Aaden into the river three days before the scheduled meeting.

“The death of Aaden Moreno was caused by the negligence [of] defendant,” the complaint says. “They failed to protect the minor decedent … by failing to take action, including but not limited to, invoking a 96-hour hold pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. section 17a-101g (e), and/or filing a motion for an order of temporary custody to administratively remove the decedent from his familial home.”

DCF officials knew Tony Moreno was a danger to Aaden “but failed to act,” the complaint repeats. They allegedly failed to conduct any follow-up interviews or meetings with Oyola after the TRO ended and failed to follow “adequate” procedures.

Aaden and his mother were living with Oyola’s sister after she filed the TRO against Moreno. The judge who moved Oyola’s lawsuit forward last week outlined in his ruling how the court that scheduled the custody meeting had denied the TRO extension without knowing that Moreno was on probation.

“I think the two of you don’t have a good relationship, and … somebody needs to go downstairs and file a custody application, and you need to work out a parental rights agreement where the child is going to be, when the child is going to be with mom, when the child is going to be with dad, work out a child support order,” the court commented, according to the judge’s ruling.

“On July 5, 2015, Tony Moreno had custody of the child in accordance with the custody/parenting plan that the parties had agreed to,” the judge said. “That day, he threw the child from the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown, killing him.”

Moreno was convicted in 2017 of murder and risk of injury to a child. He was sentenced to 70 years in prison.