Former Philadelphia police officer Edsaul Mendoza was found guilty Friday over the murder of 12-year-old Thomas “TJ” Siderio in March 2022.
CNN reported that Siderio allegedly shot at the vehicle belonging to Mendoza and three other plainclothes officers on March 1, 2022, and Mendoza responded by giving chase.
Siderio threw away his gun during the pursuit yet Mendoza shot him three times.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Mendoza was initially charged with first degree murder and voluntary manslaughter but pleaded down to third-degree murder.
Mendoza had been with the Philadelphia police five years when he shot Siderio in 2022. He could face up to 40 years in prison over the incident.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Beef is his favorite vegetable. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
