10-Year-Old Boy Whose Father Was Fatally Attacked on Halloween Addresses Killer In Court

Fernando “Chino” Rivera was 35 when he was victim to a “serious assault” from behind while standing on a West Haven street corner on October 31, 2020 and taken to the hospital, where he died of his injuries the following day. Terence Johnson, who was 18 at the time, was arrested shortly after and charged with murder.

Rivera’s fiancée, Lindsee Baez, told the Hartford Courant that Johnson took a plea deal and was set to get 30-45 years in prison after pleading guilty. His sentencing hearing went down earlier this week, during which Johnson was given 38 years.

Making an emotional appearance during the hearing was Rivera and Baez’s 10-year-old son, Niko, who was waiting at home in a Super Mario costume for his father to take him trick-or-treating the night he was fatally attacked. The child appeared via a video played in court, as one of the victim impact statements.

“I didn’t get enough time … My dad deserved to stay. My dad was taken from me too early,” said the child. “I wish he would go away and stay in jail for 100 years,” he reportedly added, saying he hoped his father knew “I miss him so much.”

Baez also addressed the court, saying that while she believes Johnson should serve life for the crime, she also believes they’re getting a “semblance of justice” with the plea deal.

“He was truly my best friend,” 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.”

“You took away someone irreplaceable, and you will have to live with that truth for the rest of your life,” she said to Johnson, adding that she experienced suicidal ideation following his death.” You stole a life, you stole dreams, and you stole love, and no sentence can ever undo the damage you caused.”

Baez also told the publication that she had only recently told her son how her father died, after previously telling the boy — who was just 5 at the time of Rivera’s death — he died from a “boo boo.”