Judge Rejects $15M Suit Against Connecticut DCF Over Baby Thrown From Middletown Bridge

Middletown, Conn. — A Connecticut judge ruled on Oct. 16 that the state Department of Children and Families is not liable for the 2015 death of a 7-month-old boy whose father threw him from the Arrigoni Bridge into the Connecticut River, ending a $15 million lawsuit that argued the agency had been warned the father was threatening the child and his mother.

The decision, issued after a bench trial held in Waterbury, found the family had not shown DCF was negligent or that its actions caused the boy’s death, NBC Connecticut reported. Law360 reported the judge ruled the estate did not prove the death was caused by DCF workers who failed to remove the child from his father.

What the mother says she told DCF

The boy’s mother, Adrianne Oyola, sued the state claiming DCF knew the father, Tony Moreno, had threatened their lives and failed to act. Moreno is serving a 70-year prison sentence for murdering his son and testified in the civil case.

According to testimony reported by WFSB when the trial opened in May, DCF caseworker Kimberly Natoli met with Oyola a few weeks before the death. Oyola told her Moreno was angry and controlling, that he pushed, poked and insulted her, and that he had threatened to make her and the baby “disappear.” She also said he threatened to take the baby and kill himself if she left. A judge had denied Oyola an additional restraining order against Moreno.

The lawsuit also alleged that DCF workers did not attend a hearing on extending a restraining order against the father and did not follow up after the order expired, NBC Connecticut reported in June.

It’s not only a direct threat against the child, it indicates a willingness and a desire to punish the other parent.

Dr. Nicol Stolar Peterson, child protection expert witness, as reported by WFSB

How the state defended DCF

Natoli testified that the baby appeared well cared for, with food, appropriate bedding and a mother who looked after him. DCF’s attorneys argued that, based on what the agency knew at the time, removing the child was not warranted, and that a 96-hour hold typically requires more severe threats or violence, such as strangulation or use of a weapon. The state has said DCF followed protocol and that its investigation was still open when the boy died.

The family’s attorney, Keith McCabe, told the court in closing arguments that “DCF had enough information available to it that they could have acted.” Coverage of the ruling did not include a statement from DCF.

A long road to court

Families in Connecticut generally cannot sue the state without permission. A judge earlier allowed this case to proceed, finding DCF “may be held liable for failing to protect the child despite repeated warnings,” The Day reported. The ruling came more than 11 years after the boy’s death.

The case is one of several testing DCF’s accountability. NBC Connecticut has reported that the state paid $12 million in a 2023 case involving a child a caseworker repeatedly failed to see during home visits, $1.6 million over the 2017 starvation death of a 17-year-old whose case DCF had closed weeks earlier, and $2 million over a toddler who died in foster care in 2016. DCF Commissioner Susan Hamilton has said the agency reviews such tragedies through a “continuous quality improvement framework rather than a reactionary one.”

Why it matters

Child welfare agencies hold enormous power to enter homes and separate families, often on thin evidence. Yet when an agency is given specific, documented warnings and does not act, courts frequently find no one responsible. That gap, where the system can be wrong in either direction without consequence, is a central accountability problem. Parents who believe a caseworker ignored or mishandled their concerns can learn how to document it in FAN’s guide to filing a CPS complaint.

Key facts

• Ruling issued Oct. 16, 2026, after a bench trial in Waterbury.
• The court found the family did not prove DCF was negligent or caused the death.
• The 7-month-old was thrown from the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown in July 2015.
• Father Tony Moreno is serving 70 years for the murder.
• Mother Adrianne Oyola sought $15 million, alleging DCF ignored threats she reported.
• DCF argued removal was not warranted based on what it knew at the time.

Sources

• NBC Connecticut — Judge rules in favor of DCF in lawsuit over death of baby thrown from Middletown bridge (2026-10-16)
• Law360 — Conn. Agency Prevails Against Estate’s $20M Infant Death Suit (2026-10-16)
• WFSB — Trial begins over death of baby thrown from Arrigoni Bridge (2026-05-05)
• The Day — Mother of baby thrown off Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown can sue Connecticut DCF, judge rules
• NBC Connecticut — Lawsuits, settlements raise questions about DCF accountability in Connecticut (2026-06-03)

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