Ex-Philadelphia officer charged with murder in killing of 12-year-old

A former Philadelphia police officer has been charged with murder in the killing of a 12-year-old boy who “was essentially facedown on the sidewalk” in March, the city’s district attorney announced Monday morning.

Edsaul Mendoza, 26, is charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and another charge for shooting Thomas “T.J.” Siderio on March 1.

At a Monday news conference, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Mendoza and other officers were in an unmarked car that day when T.J. “likely” fired at the vehicle after officers stopped him and another boy for allegedly riding their bicycles the wrong way down a street.

Two of the officers, including Mendoza, returned fire and chased T.J.

Krasner said Mendoza shot T.J. in the back after knowing that he was no longer in danger.

“The gun was sitting on the street below the curb line nearly 40 feet away,” Krasner said. “That’s when Officer Mendoza fired the third and fatal shot. He knew the 12-year-old, 5-foot tall, 111-pound Thomas Siderio no longer had a gun and no ability to harm him, but he fired a shot through his back nonetheless that killed him.”

Krasner said audio and video shown to a grand jury indicates that Mendoza knew T.J. was unarmed when the officer fired the fatal shot because T.J. appeared to comply with commands to drop the gun and get on the ground, according to Krasner.

“It is certain that Thomas Siderio, when he was shot, was essentially facedown on the sidewalk in a position that approximates a push-up, turning back toward where the officer was pursuing him,” Krasner said, citing “video, audio and crime-scene maps.”

Assistant District Attorney Brian Collins noted a directive that plainclothes officers in these situations should not make such traffic stops.

Collins said there were “diverging accounts” among the five officers involved about why the stop was made in the first place.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw announced in a March news conference that Mendoza had been fired from the force.

Mendoza was arrested Sunday, according to court documents.

It’s unclear whether he has obtained legal counsel.

A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson told The Washington Post that “additional information is forthcoming.”

T.J.’s grandmother Mary Siderio told Philadelphia-based ABC affiliate WPVI-TV that the charges were encouraging, but that she’s still trying to cope with the her grandson’s death.

“I’m so heartbroken,” she said. “I can’t sleep. None of us can sleep. It’s horrible.”