Allentown man gets up to 48 years in fatal shooting

A 22-year-old man who admitted his role in the robbery and murder of an 18-year-old last year on an Allentown street will be more than twice his current age when he completes the minimum sentence a Lehigh County judge handed down Monday.

Judge Douglas Reichley sentenced Jamett Rivera of Allentown to a combined sentence of 23½ to 48 years in prison for his role in killing Elijah Rodriguez in March 2020. Rivera was one of three men who accosted Rodriguez at gunpoint in an attempt to steal a gun they knew Rodriguez carried, prosecutors said.

Also charged with criminal homicide, robbery and conspiracy in connection with Rodriguez’s death are Pedro Acevedo, 21, of Coolbaugh Township in Monroe County, and Nikolas Acevado, 23, of Whitehall Township. They are scheduled to appear in court Nov. 29.

Rodriguez’s mother Melissa Bonilla said during Rivera’s sentencing that her son was a great young man who loved being a brother, uncle and nephew. He graduated high school even though he didn’t like going and he aspired to start a clothing line, Bonilla said.

“If there’s one thing I can say my son enjoyed, it’s his life,” she said.

Bonilla said her son’s murder means she’ll never see him get married or be a grandmother to his children.

“I’ll never have him sitting at the table for holidays. On his 19th birthday, I had a funeral instead of a birthday party,” she said.

But Bonilla said she has compassion for Rivera’s family because she knows what it means to lose her one and only son. She said that everything Rivera’s family members mention in letters pleading for leniency is something she has lost.

“There’s no justice behind this. No amount of years you spend in prison will justify what you have taken from me,” she said.

Rivera’s attorney Gavin Hollihan argued that Rivera’s significant mental health issues diagnosed since his arrest warranted a sentence of 12-15 years in prison at a facility where he could receive appropriate treatment.

First Assistant District Attorney Steven M. Luksa said that Rivera has a family that has supported him, which “gives this defendant a leg up on so many other defendants who come before this court.” He noted that in previous contacts with the criminal justice system he had opportunities to seek treatment.

Reichley said the victim’s mother was correct about the difficulty in finding justice in the situation, but Rivera’s crime was the result of a deliberate plan and that warrants a serious consequence. Reichley sentenced Rivera to 18-36 years in prison for third-degree murder, noting the minimum was the age of his victim. He sentenced Rivera to 5½ to 12 years for robbery to be served consecutively with the murder sentence, noting the minimum of the combined sentences is the age Rivera would soon be.

Police say Rivera was riding in an SUV with two others when they saw Rodriguez walking in the 1200 block of Turner Street, and Rivera told the others he wanted to rob Rodriguez of a gun he always carried, according to court records.

Rivera wielded a shotgun while the men confronted Rodriguez, court records say. He surrendered to authorities a day after the killing.