We have previously covered the death of 12-year-old Thomas “TJ” Siderio, sent to his eternal reward after he shot at police. Naturally, then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw suspended and then fired Police Officer Edsaul Mendoza, and, despite the Commissioner declining to publicly name the officer, for his safety, The Philadelphia Inquirer ferreted out his name and published it. Naturally, the George Soros-sponsored, police-hating, softer-than-Charmin-on-crime District Attorney Larry Krasner charged Officer Mendoza with among other things, first degree murder and third-degree murder. Now, two years later, Mr Mendoza has pleaded guilty of doing his job:

Former Philly cop who shot and killed 12-year-old T.J. Siderio pleads guilty to third-degree murder

Edsaul Mendoza was charged with murder two months after the shooting in March 2022.

by Rodrigo Torrejón and Ellie Rushing | Friday, April 19, 2024 | 12:36 PM EDT

Edsaul Mendoza, the former Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Thomas “T.J.” Siderio in South Philadelphia more than two years ago, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder on Friday — becoming the first city officer in recent history to face conviction for murder related to a fatal on-duty shooting.

Mendoza, 28, was charged with first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter after prosecutors said he chased T.J., then shot him in the back at near point-blank range after the boy tossed away a gun he had been carrying. The March 2022 shooting made T.J. the youngest person ever killed by a city police officer.

Mendoza’s plea marked only the second time a Philadelphia police officer has been convicted of a fatal shooting in recent years, and the first to be convicted of murder. Former police officer Eric Ruch was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter for shooting Dennis Plowden Jr., who was unarmed, after a car chase in 2017 and was sentenced to 11 ½ to 23 months in prison.

I have noted dozens of times that the Inquirer does not publish mugshots of accused or even convicted criminals, and I frequently have to do further online searches to find the mugshots I do publish. But the photo above? The newspaper was certainly willing to ignore its previous policies and publish Mr Mendoza’s photo. I screen captured it from the Inky’s online story at 4:08 PM EDT today. The newspaper did the same thing in the case of former Officer Eric Ruch.

Under Title 18 §106(b)(2) a crime is a felony in the first degree if the sentence thereto can exceed ten years, and for third degree murder maxes out at 40 years. Though the story does not indicate that there was a plea deal in place, my guess is that there was, and Mr Mendoza will receive a far more lenient sentence., perhaps similar to Mr Ruch’s 11½-to-23-month sentence, and much of that might already have been served. I hope that he’s out of jail soon.