Plea Deal Rejected In Child's Md. Bridge Death

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A judge rejected a plea agreement Monday that called for a man to receive a maximum 30-year sentence for throwing his 3-year-old son off a Baltimore bridge, calling it "too light under the circumstances."

Andrea Fujii reports Stephen T. Nelson, 40, already admitted to throwing his child off the Key Bridge on Super Bowl Sunday 2008.

Prosecutors were so sure the judge would accept the terms of the deal, they told potential witnesses they didn't have to come to court and that angered the judge.

It's been more than two years since Nelson says he threw his 3-year-old son Turner, off the Francis Scott Key Bridge into the Patapsco River.

Turner's body was found five months later.

"The remains were found in the waters just off the Seagirt Marine Terminal in the Patapsco River," said Corporal Jonathan Green, Md. Transportation Authority Police.

"Since he's no longer with us, he is in heaven bouncing on clouds eating cloud pies," said Natisha Johnson, victim's mother.

Nelson has pleaded "not criminally responsible," the equivalent of an insanity plea.

In court Monday, his attorney and the prosecutor appeared to have a deal worked out. They thought he should plead guilty to second-degree murder and get a maximum 30-year sentence.

Judge George Russell not only rejected the deal, but also admonished the prosecutor for assuming the court would accept such a deal.

"He was just the light of my life. The absolute light of my life," said Johnson.

According to court documents, Nelson killed his son in the midst of a custody argument with the boy's mother.

"I just know that he was destined to make his mark on the world. And that's what he's going to do. That's what he's done," said Johnson.

The attorneys will be back in front of a different judge Tuesday.

That new judge has said he didn't agree with a 30-year sentence either.

If Nelson were to plead "not criminally responsible" instead of guilty, he'd be sent to a psychiatric hospital.