The NYPD killed my son. Now Commissioner Tisch wants the guilty police officer to go free.

No mother is prepared to bury her child. The pain is unbearable. But what makes the suffering even more difficult is when those responsible are never held accountable, when justice is repeatedly delayed and denied. In my son’s case, Commissioner Jessica Tisch of the NYPD is now about to be completely dismissed.

My son, Allan Feliz, was brutally murdered by then-NYPD Sergeant Jonathan Rivera in 2019. After being detained for not wearing a seat belt (which he was wearing), Allan was illegally detained, beaten, electrocuted, shot, and left in the street with his genitals exposed by NYPD Officers Barrett, Almanzar, and Rivera.

For almost six years, my family has been through hell: we are traumatized, grieving, and fighting for the most basic responsibility: for Rivera to be fired for shooting Allan point-blank in the chest. We have faced endless obstacles, delays, and excuses from the NYPD and the Adams administration at every stage of the disciplinary process, a pattern we now know is all too common for victims of police violence. However, after letting this case languish on her desk for nearly five months, Police Commissioner Tisch now plans to reverse her own deputy commissioner’s decision that freed Rivera without disciplinary action.

This preliminary decision is not only incredibly cruel and unfair, but also cowardly.

Allan, my firstborn, was always a mama’s boy. Not a day went by without telling me that he loved me. He was a devoted father to his stepdaughter, Kilsi, and was very excited to welcome his son, Eli, into the world just six months before he was killed. Thanks to Rivera, my grandson is forced to grow up without a father.

When I came to this country, I truly believed that the police were here to protect us. Instead, I watched as Rivera was promoted to lieutenant after killing my son, under the supervision of Mayor Adams. That’s not protection. That is corruption. It’s a system built to protect itself, not us.

Since Jessica Tisch became the sixth commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD) following Allan’s murder, she has tried to convince us that she cares about reform and accountability, but her actions prove otherwise. Overturn his own deputy commissioner’s verdict after a full trial – where Rivera’s testimony was deemed not credible – It’s just another example of deep corruption that sinks the NYPD.

Allan was not the first New Yorker Lieutenant Rivera wounded, nor the last. He shot a teenager before killing Allan and has since had multiple misconduct complaints. He should have been fired a long time ago, but instead he continues to terrorize our communities.

If Tisch truly cared about justice and the safety of New Yorkers, he would have followed his own deputy commissioner’s guilty verdict and fired Rivera without delay. It’s clear to whom he owes his loyalty: protecting abusive cops and his own interests, rather than those of New Yorkers like us.

I wrote to Commissioner Tisch in Mayappealing to their humanity, from mother to mother. I begged him to do the right thing. Weeks later, he sent a one-sentence response and continued to drag out an already unbearably long process. The lack of respect is astonishing.

Allan’s life mattered. My family’s pain and suffering matters. But to Commissioner Tisch, it seems none of that matters more than protecting a killer cop.

We only ask that the NYPD follow its own decision. Only for the officer who killed my son to lose the job he never should have had. Commissioner Tisch, you still have a chance to show some bravery: fire Jonathan Rivera. Protect New Yorkers, not the officers who harm us.

Mery Verdeja is Allan Feliz’s mother. This is his personal opinion on the case.