Ex-Philadelphia cop sentenced for fatally shooting 12-year-old in 2022

July 23 (UPI) -- A former Philadelphia police officer who pleaded guilty in the spring to fatally shooting a 12-year-old boy in 2022 was sentenced to prison on Monday.

Edsaul Mendoza was sentenced Monday to eight to 20 years in prison for killing Thomas "TJ" Siderio on March 1, 2022.

Mendoza had been charged in May of that same year and pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime in April.

Prosecutor Clarke Beljean told the press outside the courthouse after the sentence was handed down that they had requested a higher sentence of a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 40 because of evidence showing that Mendoza had intended to evade responsibility for his crime.

Beljean said Mendoza had searched online for plane tickets from New York to the Dominican Republic where he is originally from shortly after the shooting and then about a week to 10 days later searched for the top five countries with no extradition treaty with the United States.

With Cuban being the number one on the list, Mendoza immediately searched for flights to Havana.

"This was a shocking crime, as I said not just for TJ Siderio's family, not just for his south Philadelphia community, but the entire city," he said.

According to authorities, Mendoza was one of four plainclothes officers working a stolen firearm case and were conducting surveillance in an unmarked car when they saw Siderio holding a handgun.

Siderio shot at the car, resulting in three of the officers to take cover while Mendoza took off after Siderio in a foot chase.

Beljean told reporters Monday that Mendoza shot Siderio in the back after the preteen had complied with the officer's demand to get on the ground.

Mendoza fired three shots, two after Siderio had discarded his weapon.

Mendoza was charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and possession of an instrument of crime.

"Edsaul Mendoza got every benefit of the criminal justice system that he deprived and robbed TJ Siderio of by shooting TJ in the back," Beljean said.