2-year-old Montrell Williams was standing next to his dad before father tossed him in Bronx River: prosecutor

An unsuspecting and innocent Montrell Williams stood next to his dad for several minutes on an expressway overpass last month before the unhinged father hoisted the toddler over the railing and into the cold, murky waters of the Bronx River below, prosecutors said Thursday.

“Montrell was seen alive and standing near his father moments before the defendant allegedly picked the 2-year-old up and threw him into the river, causing his death,” Bronx DA Darcel Clark said in a statement after Arius Williams was indicted by a grand jury on murder, manslaughter and menacing charges.

“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.”

Cops said Williams stormed off with the boy after a Mother’s Day fight with his own mother, and was evasive about what he did with the boy in the weeks that followed,

When Williams, 20, was confronted in person by the child’s 17-year-old mother, he threatened her with a knife and told her that he had thrown their son into the river, officials said.

Montrell was later sent to jail for being in contempt of court for refusing to disclose to a Bronx Family Court judge where the missing boy was.

The threat against the mother and his comments about throwing the boy in the river launched a search that ended miles away from the spot where police said a surveillance camera captured Williams tossing something into the water weeks earlier from a Bruckner Expressway overpass.

The decomposing body was still dressed in the Calvin Klein T-shirt Montrell was wearing when he disappeared with his dad, officials said.

The body recovered was found about 2 miles from where the Bronx River flows into the East River.

Montrell’s mother and grandmother lashed out at the NYPD for not moving faster to find the boy. The family said cops told them that there was little they could do because Williams had Montrell during an approved overnight visit.

Prosecutors said that on May 10, Williams came to a Mother’s Day party at his mother’s home, but left with the boy after an argument with her.

He showed up two hours later at a relative’s house without the child, family members said. Williams went on to post on social media about things he was supposedly doing with Montrell — but never included any pictures, family members said.

Montrell’s mother and grandmother grew alarmed when Williams didn’t return with Montrell, and called 911 to say the boy was missing, the grandmother, Octavia Roane, said.

Roane described her grandson as a “mama’s boy.”

“That’s her only son and my first grandchild,” Roane said days after Williams’ arrest. “He was just a joyful kid.”

Originally Published: June 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM EDT