Matthew Toth, Lebanon Daily News
Jason Rivera was a 7th-grader who loved sports and basketball, taking part in the Sweep the Streets events in Lebanon.
He liked football, sneakers, video games and drawing. He was looking forward to turning 16 and learning how to drive.
Last Sunday, he left his grandmother’s house to get home to watch the Super Bowl.
“He said, ‘Grandma, I love you and I’ll see you next weekend,’ ” his grandmother said at a news conference Thursday morning.
That would be the last time she would see the 13 year old, as Rivera was shot and killed Tuesday in South Lebanon Township. His killer remains at large.
At the time, his grandmother said, “there was no family members there to let him know it would be OK.”
“His mother will never be able to hold him again, to tell him that she loved him,” she said. “His father will never be able to hear from him when he calls.”
South Lebanon Township police were called to investigate gunshots fired in a parking lot at the 300 block of Vine Street shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday. Police found Rivera there with multiple gunshot wounds.
“Police attempted life-saving measures; the child was taken via ambulance to the Hershey Medical Center,” Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said. “Unfortunately for the boy, his family and his community, the gunshots proved fatal.”
While Graf had members of the family speak at Thursday’s news conference, she did not identify the speakers or take questions afterwards.
“The family wished to be identified as relationship only for their privacy. We are respecting their wishes,” Graf said.
‘We will not tolerate this in our community’
The Lebanon County Detectives Bureau, the District Attorney’s office and South Lebanon Township Police Department are investigating.
Graf said this “was not a random act of violence.”
“We are not Philadelphia, we are not Chicago,” she said. “We are united and we will not tolerate this in our community. This was a child with a bright future. This was a little boy gunned down in a parking lot for no reason”.
Officials would not be releasing more information about the incident Thursday, Graf said, adding that was at the request of family members.
“Jason is survived by three siblings; he has young family members,” she said. “They don’t want those children to turn on social media, turn on the television and learn the details in the way this child died.”
Too often in these investigations, residents will not cooperate with law enforcement, according to Graf. But after hearing what happened to Rivera, Graf said “every person in this community should be on the same page.”
“No child deserves to suffer in the way this child did,” she said. “This family deserves justice. This family deserves to face Jason’s killer, and for that killer to be held accountable. Enough is enough.”
Rivera’s aunt said that the 13 year old was full of life, making anybody’s day better. She loved him like he was one of her own children, and now she’s never going to get to spend time with this smart, funny, outgoing kid.
“This is not okay,” she said at the news conference. “He wasn’t supposed to go like this. Not this way. He didn’t deserve it.”
Dozens of residents held a candlelight vigil for the victim at the site of the shooting Wednesday evening, with many attending telling the Lebanon Daily News that they heard the shots and possibly a suspect running away.
The memorial still stood in the parking lot Thursday afternoon, with neighbors attempting to use tape and stones to keep it standing against the harsh winds.
A GoFundMe page was set up by the family on Wednesday.
“We want all the other mothers and fathers and family members out there to know that this could happen to their children, and we never want this to happen,” Rivera’s grandmother said. “We need all this gun violence to stop.”
Family members plead with residents to cooperate with law enforcement to help bring Riveria’s shooter to justice.
“There’s never words to say how we feel, but I do want to say that if anyone knows anything please, whatever little thing you think it might be … please say something,” his grandmother said.
Officials are asking anyone who knows something to contact the South Lebanon Township Police Department at 717-272-2054, the District Attorney’s office at 717-228-4412, the Lebanon County Detective Bureau at 717-228-4403, or Crimestoppers at 717-270-9800.
“The family wants community involvement. They want witnesses to come forward,” Graf said. “They are begging for justice for their child.”
This is a developing story. Please check back with the Lebanon Daily News for updates.
Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DAMattToth.
Jack Panyard is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network and contributed to this report. Reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JackPanyard.
Author: Amaury Abreu
