A Galloway Township man serving a life sentence for the murder of his infant daughter has lost his last appeal.
Shamsiddin Abdur-Raheem, now 29, was convicted in 2012 of kidnapping his 3-month-old daughter and throwing her into the Raritan River on Feb. 16. 2010.
Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem’s body was found two months later by people walking along the river’s edge.
Testifying at his trial in 2012, Abdur-Raheem claimed the baby was injured as he battled with her maternal grandmother at the woman’s East Orange home, from where the little girl was abducted.
He said the baby was dropped and looked “stunned and shocked.” After taking her, he testified he intended to drive her to his parents’ home but when he checked on her, he noticed the girl’s eyes were wide open and she wasn’t moving, concluding she “was obviously dead,” according to court records.
When he reached the Driscoll Bridge, about 20 miles from the East Orange home, he pulled over, rolled down the window and “tossed (her) off the bridge,” he testified.
He said he didn’t know why he did it.
Last April, an appelate panel denied Abdur-Raheem’s claims that his rights were violated, there were issues at his trial and that his life sentence was excessive.
He appealed that to the Supreme Court, but that was denied, according to a list of petitions before the state’s highest court released Wednesday.
Abdur-Raheem is currently in New Jersey State Prison, where he would have to live another 91 years in order to complete his sentence.
