DYFS Faulted in 5-year-old Tierra Morgan’s Case Says Report

According to the APP.COM, a report showed that the New Jersey child protection services could have done a better job in connecting the dots of violence within Tierra Morgan’s family structure.

Tierra Morgan was found dead in the Shark River in Wall Township, NJ after she was allegedly dumped there by her father. Arthur Morgan III has been charged with her murder.

While the report issued by the Department of Children and Families noted prompt follow-up and investigation of several complaints of domestic violence filed by both the 2-year-old’s mother and father, the “combination of ‘red-flag’ concerns of child abuse, substance abuse, and violence in the home were not considered as a whole when assessing the safety of this child,” wrote department Commissioner Alison Blake.

Tierra was reported missing by her mother, Imani Benton of Lakehurst, after a daddy-daughter visitation date Nov. 21 with her father, Arthur Morgan III, 27, lasted longer than expected. Her body was discovered the next day in a stream in Shark River Park in Wall.

Tierra was “awake, alert, and helpless” when she was tossed into the stream from an overpass on Schoolhouse Lane in the park, strapped in a car seat authorities allege her father weighted down with a carjack to ensure she would not survive, Deputy First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Richard E. Incremona explained in court after Morgan was captured following a nationwide manhunt and charged with murder.

Between October 2010 and Tierra’s death, the Division of Youth and Family Services responded to numerous contacts initiated by both Benton and Morgan as the couple traded accusations of child abuse and violence that led to several temporary restraining orders and included a determination rendered by state child advocates that the girl was safe just 12 days before the toddler was found dead.

Blake conceded that the “provision of services to this family could have been improved” by better coordination between the units responsible for investigating complaints and caseworkers.

“We are deeply saddened by the circumstances of this case and remain committed to working collaboratively with our system partners to improve our practice on cases where domestic violence and child abuse co-exist,” Blake wrote.

Morgan, formerly of Eatontown, is accused of murdering Tierra during their daddy-daughter date arranged with Benton, who met him at the Dollar General store in Lakehurst, where she bought the little girl snacks, put gas in Morgan’s car and gave him money to buy movie tickets so he and his daughter could see “Happy Feet Two.”

Morgan told Benton he would have their daughter home by 6 p.m., but by 6 he and Tierra hadn’t showed, explained Benton’s mother, Michelle Simmons, just days after her granddaughter was found dead.

Technically, Morgan’s visitation extended to 9 p.m., and throughout the night until 9 Morgan sent text messages to Benton, who pleaded that he bring Tierra home.

Morgan texted and called Benton 59 times that night. Some messages asked Benton to join them, but the last told her that Tierra was “resting,” Simmons explained at the time. When 9 p.m. came and went, the family called police.

“He told her Tierra is OK … and that he’s gonna find a way to make sure that his daughter is in his life,” Simmons said in describing the events that night. The following afternoon the family would learn that Tierra was dead.

A nationwide manhunt for Morgan ended a week later, after Morgan was tracked down and arrested at a home in San Diego.

Benton said a family member has advised the rest of the family not to comment on the report.