Trending Topics

Slain NYPD officer’s widow announces ‘miracle’ baby at one year memorial

Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora were killed on Jan. 21, 2022, while responding to a call about an argument between a woman and her adult son

chrome_T20nZc4naZ.png

Photo/YouTube via NBC NY

By Kristin F. Dalton
Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Family, friends, NYPD brass, and others gathered inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral Saturday morning for a memorial mass one year after NYPD Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora were slain.

Rivera, 22, and Mora, 27, were killed in the line-of-duty on Jan. 21, 2022 while responding to a call about an argument between a woman and her adult son.

According to a Daily News report, the memorial wasn’t all tears of sadness.

Dominque Luzuriaga, widow of Rivera, announced she is pregnant with her husband’s child and is due this spring, according to the report.

“Through sorrow and pain can also be a great birth. I am blessed to say that Jason and I will be expecting our miracle this spring,” Luzuriaga said at the memorial to a packed church. “Although Jason won’t be here in physical form to see and experience our miracle, I know he will always be here in spirit, waiting and protecting and loving us,” she said according to the report.

Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, spoke about the immense pain of losing a child and two New York City heroes at the memorial ceremony.

“I remember the two of us standing in the hospital that day and watching your family and seeing the intensity of the pain that you experienced receiving that notification that you’ve lost the sons, your brothers, your husband, persons that you love. Our hearts grieved with you, and 365 days does not allow us to see the pain dissipate. Every birthday, every holiday, every time you hear a song or think about a facial expression that is made by both of these heroes, you think about today, “Adams said.

“I say over and over again, this profession waters the tree of freedom that allows us to sit from the ray of violence and crime. We cannot thank you enough. And we know the pain is real. When they transitioned from the physical to the spiritual, they left a symbol of everlasting understanding and respect,” he continued.

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell called Mora and Rivera “vibrant souls.”

“Jason and Wilbert live on. We carry the batons of the lives, the dreams, and the legacies of these First Grade detectives,” Sewell said according to the report.

___

(c)2023 Staten Island Advance, N.Y.
Visit Staten Island Advance, N.Y. at www.silive.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

PREVIOUS: Slain NYPD Officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera honored with memorial at precinct

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU