Conviction Secured In Death Of 2-Year-Old Nikolette Rivera

Philadelphia PA

24 August, 2021

10:04 AM

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PHILADELPHIA — A man has been convicted and sentenced in connection with the 2019 shooting death of a 2-year-old girl in Philadelphia. Tayvon Thomas, 27, of Philadelphia, was convicted and sentenced Monday for the killing of 2-year old Nikolette Rivera and related shootings in Kensington in 2019. Thomas pleaded guilty to third degree murder, attempted murder, and over two dozen other charges including illegal firearm possession, conspiracy, and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 55 to 110 years in state prison. Thomas and Freddie Perez drove to the home where Rivera lived with her mother, Joan Ortiz, on Oct. 20, 2019 and opened fire on the home. Rivera was shot in the head and Ortiz was shot in the upper left arm and head, but survived. Another person who was cleaning inside the home was also injured. According to the DA's office, the intended targets were two former associates of Perez who were not in the house at the time of the shooting. According to witness statements, Perez was angry at a narcotics trafficking group for putting out a hit on him which resulted in Perez being shot in 2018. Perez was also upset that the group failed to pay his bail after he was arrested for selling their narcotics. About an hour before to the fatal shooting, Thomas and Perez shot two pedestrians and the driver of a pickup truck, all of whom escaped injury, on the 400 block of E. Clearfield Street, before fleeing that scene in a vehicle. Thomas and Perez were apprehended days later and confessed to all of the incidents. Investigators believe that the two men intended to take over the narcotics group by force. "I just want to send a message to people who are thinking about shooting another human being: Before you pick up the gun, just realize that you're not only taking another person's life away, you're also taking your own," Ortiz said. "My daughter doesn't have another chance and neither does the man who killed her. There's another way. You don't have to give in to violence and anger. You don't have to be a product of your environment. You can be better. We all have a chance to be better." According to police statistics, of the more than 1,400 people shot this year in Philadelphia, 140 were under the age of 18. Thirty-three of the 140 shooting victims died.