A young boy expressed his longing for more time with his parent as he courageously addressed his father’s murderer.
Earlier this week, Terrence Johnson was sentenced to 38 years in prison for the murder of 35-year-old Fernando ‘Chino’ Rivera.
The tragic incident occurred at the intersection of Elm Street and Washington Avenue in West Haven, Connecticut, where the then 18-year-old Johnson fatally stabbed Rivera.
In 2020, Rivera’s son, Niko, had been waiting for his father to return home to celebrate Halloween, but Rivera never made it back.
Suffering severe injuries from the attack, Rivera succumbed to a neck wound the next day at Yale New Haven Hospital. At the time, he was engaged to Niko’s mother, Lindsee Baez, and because Niko was only 5, he was told his father passed due to a ‘boo-boo’.
Now 10 years old, Niko delivered an emotional victim statement, lamenting the limited time he had with his father.
As reported by the Harford Courant, Niko addressed his father’s killer through a video shown in court.
He expressed: “I didn’t get enough time (with dad) … My dad deserved to stay. My dad was taken from me too early.”
He continued: “I wish he would go away and stay in jail for 100 years. I want (dad) to know I miss him so much.”
Baez, Rivera’s fiancée, stated that in an ideal world, the perpetrator would remain imprisoned for life, but acknowledged the sentence provided a ‘semblance of justice’.
She confronted Johnson in court, saying: “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 reminisced about her 17-year relationship with Rivera, describing him as her best friend and a gentle giant at 6 foot and 350 pounds.
She shared: “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.”