{"id":212255,"date":"2026-04-28T04:29:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T04:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/212255\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T04:29:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T04:29:57","slug":"ex-con-sentenced-to-115-years-to-life-for-killing-nypd-cop-jonathan-diller-during-queens-car-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/212255\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-con sentenced to 115 years to life for killing NYPD cop Jonathan Diller during Queens car stop"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ex-con who shot NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller to death<\/a> during a chaotic Queens car stop was hit Monday with the maximum sentence of 115 years to life behind bars.<\/p>\n

The sentence, handed down Monday by Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise, came after a dramatic three-week trial which ended with a jury acquitting Guy Rivera, 35,<\/a> of first-degree murder, but convicting him of aggravated manslaughter, attempted murder and gun charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour sentence to me was determined the second you pulled that trigger,\u201d Aloise told Rivera as he handed down the lengthy sentence. \u201cIt took me five minutes to calculate the numbers. It\u2019s going to take you a lifetime to calculate the damage you did and the grief you caused.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stephanie<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Stephanie Diller, left, widow of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, addresses the court prior to the sentencing of Guy Rivera at Queens Criminal Court in Queens on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old slain cop\u2019s widow, Stephanie Diller, testified in court moments before the sentence was handed down about the agony she has endured.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a single moment, everything that was my life was gone,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted a lifetime with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not get to hold his hand,\u201d she added. \u201cI did not get to say goodbye. I did not get to give him the love and the peace he deserved in his final moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she wasn\u2019t even the biggest victim, Stephanie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person who lost the most is our son Ryan,\u201d she said. \u201cHe will grow up without the love of his father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Guy<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Guy Rivera, convicted in the killing of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, is pictured during his sentencing in Queens on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

She went on to address her husband\u2019s killer directly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Rivera, only you know what was in your heart that day,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cOne day, you will stand before God and answer for what you did to Jonathan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour actions that day cannot be undone. Your actions that day gave me a life sentence without him,\u201d she added.\u00a0\u201cWhen I leave this courtroom, I will no longer speak of you. I will no longer think of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The verdict on the lesser charge angered Diller\u2019s colleagues in the NYPD. While the murder acquittal does take life without parole off the table, the sentence means Rivera will nonetheless, barring appeals, likely spend the rest of his life in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me tell you this, murder, manslaughter, homicide, they\u2019re legal terms. The defendant killed your loved one. There are no words in the English language that are going to take away the pain inside that you feel,\u201d Aloise said. \u201cNot even the knowledge that the defendant will most certainly die in a prison cell \u2014 and I promise he will \u2014 that\u2019s not going to help you guys either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stephanie<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Stephanie Diller, widow of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, addresses the court prior to the sentencing of Guy Rivera at Queens Criminal Court on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Diller\u2019s mother also addressed the courtroom Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy world has been completely shattered. Everything feels empty without him,\u201d Fran Diller said. \u201cAll I can feel is an unbearable ache of my son not being there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have looked at the defendant over the last two years, and at every single court hearing I have never seen any remorse, only a concern for himself,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The judge took a moment to praise the NYPD Community Response Team Diller was assigned to for how they rushed to try and save his life \u2014 and how they even gave medical help to the suspect after Diller was shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re at your lowest, you really show why you\u2019re the finest,\u201d Aloise said.<\/p>\n

\"NYPD<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Officer Jonathan Diller’s wife Stephanie, left, and mother Fran, right, address the court prior to the sentencing of Guy Rivera at Queens Criminal Court on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Rivera\u2019s lawyer, Jamal Johnson of the Legal Aid Society, said he\u2019ll file an appeal. He contended Aloise put the thumb on the scale for the prosecution with his pre-trial rulings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe jury should have been permitted to consider whether Mr. Rivera\u2019s actions were reckless and negligent\u2026. That option was taken away from the jury, leading them to decide only whether his actions were intentional,\u201d Johnson told the judge, arguing that Rivera was \u201cnot a murderer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera declined to make a statement in court Monday after his lawyer advised him not to because of the pending appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court\u2019s rulings, which prevented the jury from considering important evidence and lesser-included charges supported by the record \u2014 including reckless manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide \u2014 impaired the integrity of the jury\u2019s verdict,\u201d Johnson said in a statement later in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as important, the fact that the court stated it had already made up its mind about sentencing well before the trial was conducted reveals the bias and uphill battle the defense faced throughout this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Police<\/p>\n

Sam Costanza for New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Police secure the scene on Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway, Queens after NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller was fatally shot while making a car stop on March 25, 2024. (Sam Costanza for New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Diller was working on his day off on March 25, 2024 as part of a five-officer team in the 101st Precinct, when another member of the unit, Sgt. Sasha Rosen, spotted an L-shaped object in the pocket of the suspect\u2019s hooded sweatshirt on Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway.<\/p>\n

Rosen and Diller followed Rivera until he got into the passenger seat of a parked Kia sedan, and a third cop, Det. Dario Fernandez, surrounded the vehicle. Diller got the attention of the other two members of his team, Dets. Veckash Khedna and Derval Whyte \u2014 and within seconds, Diller was shot in the stomach.<\/a><\/p>\n

Prosecutors argued that Rivera reached for his gun and deliberately fired a single shot at Diller in an attempt to blast his way out of his inevitable arrest, then pointed his weapon at Rosen\u2019s chest, but the gun jammed. Khedna fired twice after the fatal shot, wounding Rivera.<\/p>\n

Rivera\u2019s defense team contended that the gun went off inadvertently in a struggle after Rosen reached into the car and grabbed Rivera.<\/p>\n

\"Guy<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

Guy Rivera is pictured during his sentencing in Queens on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The jurors saw video of the shooting from several angles, including the officers\u2019 body-worn cameras and from nearby security cameras, and heard testimony from Diller\u2019s grief-stricken widow and the other members of Diller\u2019s unit.<\/p>\n

Diller was posthumously promoted to detective by the NYPD.<\/p>\n

\u201cRivera will spend the rest of his life in prison,\u201d NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch tweeted after the sentence was announced.<\/a> \u201cThat is obviously the right result, for him and for anyone who kills a New York City police officer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge came to the sentence by designating Rivera a persistent felony offender and giving him 25 years to life for the aggravated manslaughter of Diller, 40 to life for attempted murder of Rosen, and 25 to life for each of the two guns he possessed.<\/p>\n

Though the shooting happened in a matter of seconds, by making the sentences run consecutively Aloise ruled that each charge represented a distinct crime Rivera committed.<\/p>\n

As for Rivera\u2019s prospects with an appeal, Katz said, \u201cWe stand ready to defend the conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PBA<\/p>\n

Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News<\/p>\n

PBA President Patrick Hendry attends the sentencing of Guy Rivera at Queens Criminal Court on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said he\u2019s confident the conviction and sentence will stand on appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that the verdict in this case did not send the right message to the Diller family and every police officer who wears the uniform. It made us all second-guess everything about our criminal justice system which we count on when we\u2019re putting our lives on the line,\u201d Hendry said. \u201cBut this sentence, it sent the right message.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should never ever walk the streets again,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd he won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ex-con who shot NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller to death during a chaotic Queens car stop was hit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,122,124,123,265],"class_list":["post-212255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-sub-county-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}