Crime & Safety

Memorial Marks Site Of Toddler's Death

Sympathies line Shark River bridge

A stuffed pink pig. Mickey Mouse. Teddy bears, candles and flowers for a little girl whose life was cut tragically short last week have collected on the Schoolhouse Road bridge where authorities say the father of 2-year-old Tierra Morgan-Glover tossed his daughter, still strapped to a car seat, into a stream below to her death.

The makeshift memorial marks the spot straddling the boundary between Wall and Neptune townships where the girl is believed to have died.

U.S. Marshals, working in conjunction with numerous local, state and federal authorities across the country, ended a nationwide manhunt Tuesday when they . Morgan is charged with the murder of the toddler.

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"I hope there will now at least be some justice for Tierra and her
family," said Lisa Haus, who last week in Lakehurst organized a vigil in support of the toddler's family. "Him being captured, I think, the community will
just be happy that the man that Tierra looked up to and loved, and
trusted will not be able to do this to anyone else."

Authorities say Morgan, 27, tossed the little girl into a portion of the Shark River from the bridge now lined with sympathies from people who likely never met the 2-year-old. The girl's body was found Nov. 22, .

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An autopsy later said Tierra was the victim of "homicidal violence.'' Her father, , .

Tierra Morgan-Glover was buried in a Toms River cemetery Monday, following funeral services in Asbury Park.

A day later, U.S. Marshals were watching a home in San Diego, acting on a tip from a New Jersey law enforcement agency. For seven hours they watched the home on the 800 block of Euclid Avenue in the eastern section of town.

Then, a break. Morgan appeared on a back porch around 4:30 p.m., Pacific Time. They made a positive ID. Throngs of Marshals surrounded the house. He was arrested without incident.

Reports from San Diego say Morgan's friends had no idea he was wanted for murder.

Morgan is being held at San Diego County Jail, without bail, pending extradition to New Jersey.

Haus said the news of Morgan's capture brought a modicum of comfort, but she said it does not change the tragedy.

"I am just so happy that now Tierra can rest easy," she said.


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