July 22, 2024
Michael Tanenbaum/for PhillyVoice
Edsaul Mendoza, the former Philly police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old, T.J. Siderio in March 2022, was sentenced to between eight and 20 years in prison. The file photo above shows the Philadelphia police badge sculpture that hangs inside the lobby of the department's headquarters at 400 N. Broad St.
The former police officer who fatally shot a 12-year-old boy during a gun investigation in South Philly two years ago was sentenced Monday to spend between eight and 20 years in prison.
Edsaul Mendoza, 29, pleaded guilty in April to charges of third-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime for the March 2022 shooting of T.J. Siderio, who was unarmed and on the ground when he was killed.
Mendoza was one of five off-duty, plainclothes officers investigating a social media report of a teen with a gun in the area of 18th and Barbara streets on March 1. The officers were sitting in a tinted, unmarked car when they saw Siderio and another teen ride by on their bikes, investigators said.
After police turned on the car's lights, Siderio fired shots into the rear windshield. Mendoza and a second officer got out of the car and chased after Siderio, who ran toward Moyamensing Street. Both officers fired at Siderio, including two initial shots from Mendoza.
Siderio dropped his weapon and then got on the ground after Mendoza shouted at him to surrender. The boy was on the ground for several seconds before Mendoza fired at him from about half a car length away, a grand jury investigation found.
The weapon Siderio dropped was located about 40 feet from where he was shot, police said. Investigators determined Mendoza knew Siderio was unarmed when he fired the fatal shot because the officer had indicated to another officer where to find the boy's gun.
Mendoza, a five-year veteran of the police department, was fired weeks after the shooting for failing to follow protocols for using deadly force.
Siderio was a seventh grade student at George Sharswood Elementary School. His family sued Mendoza and the city in February to seek damages suffered as a result of the shooting.
