Former Philadelphia police officer convicted of shooting 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 convicted.

Mendoza was sentenced to eight to twenty years in prison.

The former police officer pleaded guilty to the murder of 12-year-old Thomas “TJ” Siderio in South Philadelphia in April 2024. Mendoza also pleaded guilty to possession of an instrument of murder as part of a plea deal with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

Former Philadelphia police officer Edsaul Mendoza was convicted of the fatal shooting of 12-year-old TJ Siderio in March 2022.

According to officials, in March 2022, four plainclothes officers approached Siderio and a friend while he was on patrol. According to police, TJ then fired a gun at the unmarked patrol car.

RELATED REPORTING:

Former police officer Mendoza pursued the youth and fired two shots after Siderio dropped his weapon.

Mendoza, who had been on the police force for five years, was fired a week after the shooting by then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw because his conduct violated department policy.