Former Philadelphia police officer convicted of shooting 12-year-old boy
![Former Philadelphia police officer convicted of shooting 12-year-old boy Former Philadelphia police officer convicted of shooting 12-year-old boy](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox29.com/www.fox29.com/content/uploads/2022/05/1280/720/Edsaul_Mendoza_TJ_Siderio.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Former PPD officer convicted of shooting 12-year-old boy
Edsaul Mendoza, the former Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a 12-year-old boy in 2022, has been convicted.
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.
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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.
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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.