The widow of a New York City police officer who was fatally shot in Harlem a year ago has announced that she is expecting her «miracle» baby.
«Although Jason will not be here in physical form to see and experience our miracle, I know he will always be here in spirit watching over us, protecting us and loving us,» Dominique Rivera, wife of NYPD officer Jason Rivera, said at a gathering. commemorative mass Saturday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
«For my unborn son, my hope is that with time, guidance and love, they too will come to know their father. And as a family, we will vow to never forget and honor Jason’s tremendous legacy of service and ultimate sacrifice.» .
The baby will be born in spring.
Jason Rivera, 22, and Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, were shot on January 21, 2022 while responding to a 911 call about a woman having a dispute with her son in a Harlem apartment. The two officers were shot without warning as they walked down a narrow hallway toward a back room where the suspect was staying, police said.
The suspect, 47-year-old Lashawn Mcneil, was shot by a third officer and died days later at the hospital.
Dominique Rivera said the last year has been «unbearable» and there were times when she felt like she had lost herself.
«While I can understand that for most of you life went on, I feel like time has stood still for me… I’ve thought about all the plans we made, what our lives would be like now that we’re married. Thinking about the day we can make dinner for each other or wait for each other to see who gets home first. Take annual vacations and soak up all the love the newlyweds feel,» she said. «The pain became so unbearable that to cope with it I began to tell myself that we had separated. It was easier to accept that than to acknowledge his death.»
Mora’s sister also spoke during the memorial, reading a message in Spanish. Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell called the officers «heroes.»
«We carry the legacies of Jason and Wilbert. We carry on with heavy hearts with invisible medallions containing their memories, a year of tears and a great deal of pain,» he said.
