Gunman gets state time for drug-related shooting
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A Coatesville man was sentenced to four to eight years in state prison last week after pleading guilty to aggravated assault causing serious bodily harm in a May 7 shooting.
Jaifon Shakur Rivera, 18, also pleaded guilty to one count of robbery causing serious bodily harm under the negotiated guilty plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney William Judge and defense counsel Taylor Dunn. Both charges are felonies of the first degree.
Rivera turned himself in to police May 13 for shooting a 19-year-old Glenolden man in what police described as a drug deal gone bad. The victim was admitted to Crozer-Chester Medical Center in critical condition with wounds to his abdomen, chest and arm.
The victim initially told police he had been shot by two black males, but text messages and emails recovered as part of an investigation indicated Rivera was buying marijuana from the victim, according to police. Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said the victim had sold to Rivera 20 to 25 times over the prior year.
The two met in the 800 block of Christopher Place in the Primos section of Upper Darby, where Rivera had previously lived in a youth home before his April 30 eviction. Police were dispatched to that area shortly before 4 p.m. and found the victim lying on the ground next to a Jeep Cherokee. The Jeep’s interior was bloody, police said.
“The only reason you chose to use violence that day in such a cold and cowardly manner is because you had no (regard) for the life of another human being,” the victim’s mother told Rivera in court. “You watched as police and paramedics arrived. You watched as they took (the victim) by ambulance, the entire time looking at his brothers and friends who were at the scene, right at their faces. And I have to wonder – what were you thinking?”
She said her son had undergone numerous surgeries since and has endured unimaginable pain and suffering as a result of the shooting. Only his faith and will to live have carried him through, she said.
In addition to prison time, Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge John Capuzzi ordered Rivera to serve two years of consecutive state probation, provide a DNA sample to state police and pay restitution of $49,431. The restitution amount may be offset by insurance payments. Rivera is not eligible for early release or boot camp and must stay away from the victim.