Gerrard Kaonga
A child insisted that he did not get enough time with his parent as he issued a brave statement to his father’s killer.
Terrence Johnson was sentenced to 38 years in prison earlier this week on Tuesday (October 7) for the murder of 35-year-old Fernando ‘Chino’ Rivera.
Rivera was at the corner of Elm Street and Washington Avenue in West Haven, Connecticut, when he was stabbed by the then 18-year-old Johnson.
At the time of the incident, in 2020, Rivera’s son, Niko, was waiting for his father to come home so that they could celebrate Halloween, but he never returned.
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Rivera was seriously injured in the attack, and died from a neck injury at the Yale New Haven Hospital the following day. He was engaged to Niko’s mother Lindsee Baez at the time of his death, and heartbreakingly, as Niko was only 5 at the time, he was told his father died of a ‘boo-boo’.
Niko, now 10, issued a heart-wrenching victim statement on Tuesday and argued that he didn’t get to spend enough time with his father.
According to a report by the Harford Courant, Niko spoke directly to his father’s killer in a video that was played in court.
He said: “I didn’t get enough time (with dad) … My dad deserved to stay. My dad was taken from me too early.”
He added: “I wish he would go away and stay in jail for 100 years. I want (dad) to know I miss him so much.”
Rivera’s fiance Baez added that in a ‘perfect world’ the killer would spend the rest of his life in jail, but added that the sentencing did offer a ‘semblance of justice’.
She also spoke directly to Johnson in court, and said: “You stole a life, you stole dreams, and you stole love, and no sentence can ever undo the damage you caused.
“At the end of my day, my son doesn’t have a dad.”
She also reflected on the 17-year long relationship she had with the deceased Rivera, and noted that he truly was her best friend and a gentle soul at 6 foot and 350 pounds.
She added: “We grew up together, from our teenage years into adulthood.
“The road was bumpy along the way, but we never gave up on each other. We chose our family every single day, and that choice made him so happy.”