OAN’s James Meyers
10:17 AM – Tuesday, May 7, 2024
An ex-convict was arraigned on first-degree murder charges Tuesday in the traffic-stop shooting death of NYPD cop Jonathan Diller, Queens prosecutors said.
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Guy Rivera, 34, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on an indictment charging him with first and second degree murder, attempted murder and six counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
The courtroom was filled with New York’s finest, standing side by side with the slain cop’s family.
“I hope that vicious, violent cop killer took a good look at the crowd in that courtroom because he’s going to see us every time he comes to court,” NYPD PBA President Patrick Hendry told reporters.
“Great husband, great father, just an all around great family man who loved being a police officer and loves his family,” Hendry added.
Meanwhile, Rivera is charged with shooting Diller during a routine traffic stop in Far Rockaway. The 31-year-old Diller went to check on the skeptical-looking Kia Soul vehicle where Rivera and accused cohort Lindy Jones, who was behind the wheel, were sitting when Rivera shot and struck Diller, according to police.
The bullet hit Diller below his bulletproof vest, and he was later pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.
Additionally, Rivera already had 21 arrests on his criminal record and had a shiv hidden in his rectum at the time of the young cops shooting, with other police suspecting that the duo were planning a heist.
Jones, who had over 14 prior busts, was arrested after the shooting and charged after cops found a second gun in the glove compartment.
In a heartfelt funeral in Massapequa on March 30th, Diller’s widow, Stephanie, called her murdered husband a hero during a touching eulogy, with their one-year-old son, Ryan, nearby.
“My husband died a hero,” she said. But he also lived like one. Our world will never be the same, but I know I speak for everyone when I say I could not be more proud of him.”
Both Jones and Rivera are being held without bail.
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