By The newspaper
23 Jul 2024, 20:44 PM EDT
The former Philadelphia Police Department officer pleaded guilty to the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy who was trying to flee. The man was sentenced to between eight and 20 years in prison, and told the court he “feels sorry and remorseful.”
Edsaul Mendoza had been charged with first- and third-degree murder, as well as voluntary manslaughter, for shooting 12-year-old Thomas “TJ” Siderio in March 2022. The district attorney’s office said at the time that the video contradicted the officer’s version of events.
The boy threw the gun and was shot.
The boy threw a gun about 40 feet into the air before he was shot and then tripped or fell to the ground, according to prosecutors, who added that the boy was on the ground and unarmed when Mendoza fired the fatal shot into his back.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said the surveillance video contradicted some of the officer’s statements, including Mendoza’s account that the boy pointed a gun at him and that he was standing in the street when he fired.
Instead, they said, “she was almost on top of him on the sidewalk,” according to information prosecutors presented to a grand jury, ABC6 reported.
Four plainclothes officers
The incident occurred when four officers were in an unmarked car looking for a teenager with whom they wanted to speak about an investigation related to firearms.
Police said they saw Thomas Siderio and a 17-year-old boy, whose identity was not released, who maneuvered the car around the block and passed them to initiate the arrest.
Prosecutors said that at the same time officers turned on the red and blue lights, a shot went through the rear passenger window and ricocheted into the car. One officer was treated for injuries to his eye and face caused by broken glass.
According to police, Mendoza and another officer who was riding in the passenger side exited the vehicle and fired one shot each. Mendoza then chased the unarmed Siderio down the block, firing twice and hitting the boy, once in the back, at “relatively close” distance, ABC6 reported.
Edsaul Mendoza said in court that he felt “sadness and regret” after receiving his sentence from the judge.
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