Former Philly police officer sentenced in shooting death of 12-year-old boy
PHILADELPHIA - Edsaul Mendoza, the former Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a 12-year-old boy in 2022, has been sentenced.
Mendoza was ordered to serve eight to 20 years in prison.
The ex-officer pleaded guilty back in April 2024 to murder in the death of 12-year-old Thomas ‘TJ’ Siderio in South Philadelphia. Mendoza also pleaded guilty to possession of an instrument of crime as part of a plea deal with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.
Former Philadelphia police officer Edsaul Mendoza has been sentenced for fatally shooting 12-year-old TJ Siderio in March 2022.
According to officials, in March 2022, four plain-clothed officers approached Siderio and a friend while on patrol. That's when police say TJ fired a gun at the unmarked patrol car.
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Former officer Mendoza then chased the tween and fired two shots after Siderio had dropped his weapon.
Mendoza, a five-year veteran of the force, was fired a week after the shooting by then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, who said his conduct violated department policy.