Jury Selection Ends in Parkway Bridge Baby Death Case

Jury selection has ended in the murder trial of a New Jersey man accused of throwing his 3-month-old daughter off a bridge while the child’s mother was at court seeking a restraining order against him.

State prosecutors say Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem abducted Zara Malani-lin Abdur-Raheem from her grandmother’s East Orange apartment in February 2010. He eventually parked on the Alfred E. Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway and then threw or dropped the baby into the Raritan River.

The child’s body was discovered about two months later on the riverbank, near the Route 35 Victory Bridge.

Besides the murder count, the 24-year-old former Galloway Township resident also faces charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and child endangerment.

Opening arguments in the case are scheduled for Wednesday morning.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)