BRONX MAN INDICTED FOR KILLING TODDLER SON BY THROWING HIM IN EAST RIVER

 

2-Year-Old Montrell Williams Was Alive When Tossed From Brucker Expressway Overpass 

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been indicted for second-degree Murder for allegedly throwing his two-year-old son into the East River. 

District Attorney Clark said, “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 East River, causing his death. 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.” 

 District Attorney Clark said Arius Williams, 20, of 837 Hunts Point Avenue, was indicted on two counts of second-degree Murder, two counts of first-degree Manslaughter, and seconddegree Menacing. He was arraigned today before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Kim Parker. Remand was continued. He is due back in court on October 9, 2025.

According to the investigation, on May 10, 2025, Williams came to his mother’s home for a Mother’s Day party. After getting into an argument with her, Williams allegedly got upset and left the home with Montrell. Members of Montrell’s family tried to locate the toddler and attempted to confront the defendant about the boy’s whereabouts to no avail when he showed up approximately two hours and a half later at his aunt’s house without the child.

On May 12, 2025, Montrell’s mother filed a petition in Family Court after Williams failed to return the child on May 11, 2025, pursuant to the visitation order in effect. On May 28, 2025, a warrant was issued by a family court judge to produce the child. On June 8, 2025, the defendant was approached by Montrell’s mother and allegedly pulled a knife on her and admitted to throwing their son into a river. Montrell’s body was recovered by NYPD divers on June 11, in the East River, near the Whitestone Bridge. Surveillance footage allegedly shows the victim alive and standing for a brief period, minutes before being thrown into the river from a Bruckner Expressway overpass.

District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detectives Frankie Soler of Bronx Homicide, Michael Manni of the 40th Precinct Squad, and NYPD Officers Thomas Smith, Mark Raile, and Kyle Grassia, all of the NYPD Harbor Unit. 

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.