The trial is set to commence on Tuesday in Queens for a former convict accused of fatally shooting Police Officer Jonathan Diller two years ago. The proceedings will bring him face to face with Diller’s widow, who is now the single mother of their 3-year-old child.
Guy Rivera, 35, the alleged shooter, will likely be confronted by a large contingent of police officers attending the trial to show their support.
“This trial is bound to be intensely painful,” remarked PBA President Patrick Hendry, who intends to be present, in a statement to The Post.
“This malevolent individual not only claimed the life of a dedicated officer but also deprived a heroic family of a remarkable father, husband, and son,” Hendry stated.
“Nearly two years on, they continue to hope for Jonathan to return home,” Hendry added. “His murderer should never again see the light of freedom.”
Officer Diller, at the age of 31, was killed on March 25, 2024, while probing a suspicious vehicle in Far Rockaway.
He was walking up to the passenger side of a Kia Soul illegally parked outside a cell-phone store when Rivera allegedly fired three rounds from inside the vehicle, blasting Diller in his stomach.
Police believe Rivera and a cohort were planning to rob the store, officials have said. Rivera was shot once in the back by Diller’s partner.
Rivera had 21 prior arrests.
He now faces life in prison on charges of first- and second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He has pleaded not guilty to killing Diller.
Widow Stephanie Diller still grieves.
“I miss John every day and his trial is coming up and I wish he was here especially as Ryan grows,” she told The Post last month, referring to their son.
“There are so many moments that you have that you’re like, ‘Oh, he would have loved that,’” according to the Massapequa Park mom. “’I wish he was here to see.’”
Ryan has started talking, the mom said.
“His personality really shines through,” she said. “He has opinions. He’s strong willed, he’s kind, he’s funny. He has his own mind and I wish John had really been able to know him to see that.”
The widow said she has been surrounded and supported by a strong-knit group of police and other first-responder widows and her family in blue, but she regrets that her son will never know his father.
“Ryan has a fierceness in him,” she said. “It’s a funny thing about him because John was the same way. They’re fierce and they’re strong willed, but they’re also very kind.”
The child reminds her of her husband “every time he looks at me,” she said.
“He has his father’s eyes,” she said.
