A New Jersey courtroom has heard how a father, angry at the thought his ex was seeing another man, killed the couple's daughter by tossing her into a creek while she was still strapped into her car seat.

The prosecution told how Arthur Morgan was angry with his ex Imani Benton after she denied him visitation rights and was suspicious that she was seeing someone else.

The couple argued as Morgan picked up their two-year old daughter Tierra Morgan-Glover from Benton's Lakehurst home in late November 2011.

Instead of taking her to the movie theater as promised, Morgan drove around for 4 hours, while calling Benton 57 times on his cellphone.

He then drove to Shark River Park in Wall Township where he strapped a car jack to the back of Tierra's car seat to weigh it down and tossed her into the creek. Morgan then went to buy alcohol before going drinking with one of his buddies.

He then caught a train that would eventually see him turn up in San Diego.

Tierra's partially submerged body was discovered later in the day by three teenagers who saw her sneaker poking out of the stream.

Morgan was caught days later by a US Marshal's fugitive recovery team in California following a nationwide manhunt.

He is now on trial over the homicide where if convicted of 'knowing and purposeful' murder he faces life in prison without parole.