NEW YORK – Officer Jason Rivera, 22, of the New York Police Department was gunned down and killed with partner Wilbert Mora, 27, in Harlem in 2022. Last week, Rivera’s widow, Dominque Luzuriaga Rivera, announced that she has gave birth to the couple’s “miracle” child, according to reports.
Luzuriaga Rivera posted a baby photo on Instagram Wednesday evening showing the world “Wesley,” her new bundle of joy, WPIX reported.
“A baby fills a place in your heart you never knew was empty,” she wrote in a caption of a photo showing the sleeping infant cradling a small teddy bear. “Meet my little prince Wesley.”
The news outlet did not know the date the baby was born, but said the new mother previously posted a photo on the now privatized account of an infant’s hand with the caption “6/12/23.”
Dominique Luzuriaga Rivera announced the birth of her newborn son Wesley, who she shares with slain NYPD officer Jason Rivera. (Intstagram___dlxo via New York Post)
Luzuriaga Rivera first announced she was pregnant with her slain husband’s child during a January memorial service honoring the first anniversary of the fatal on-duty shooting, according to the New York Post.
Rivera’s sperm was harvested at the hospital after he was gunned down, a source who knows the family said at the time.
The news was received with thunderous cheers and a standing ovation at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, bringing some joy to what was a solemn event.
“One of the things I’m learning is that God works in mysterious ways,” Luzuriaga Rivera said. “Though sorrow and pain, there can also be a rebirth. I am blessed to say that Jason and I will be expecting our miracle this spring.”
“Although Jason won’t be here in physical form to see and experience our miracle, I know he will always be here in spirit watching, protecting, and loving us,” she added.
“To my unborn child, my hope is with time, guidance, and love they, too, will get to know their father, and as a family” we will “never forget Jason’s tremendous legacy of success and ultimate sacrifice.”
Dominque Luzuriaga Rivera first announced she was pregnant with her slain husband’s child during a January memorial service. (Instagram/____dlxo)
The couple had known each other since childhood and were married for only a few months when he was gunned down and killed.
Rivera and Mora responded to a domestic disturbance call in Harlem on Jan. 21, 2022, when they were ambushed by career criminal Lashawn McNeil.
Both men were mortally wounded before Officer Sumit Sulan fatally shot McNeil, Law Officer reported last year.
Rivera, who was in his first year of police work, and 4-year veteran, Mora, who was single without children, were laid to rest after massive funeral services at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“Perhaps not since America welcomed its victorious legions home from Europe in 1945 have New York’s streets seen a uniformed presence quite like the blue wall that stood tall in Fifth Avenue Friday. They had come to honor the sacrifice of NYPD Officer Jason Rivera — murdered at 22 in service to a too-often-ungrateful city,” the New York Post reported at the time.
Literally thousands of uniformed officers stood shoulder to shoulder on the packed boulevard for blocks. They remained respectfully silent yet making a loud statement that for this one day, on this one occasion, they had had enough of being scapegoats for a society lately lacking the self-respect to resist both its criminals, and perhaps even worse, politicians who act as apologists for the vile evil-doers in society, according to the Post.
Earlier this year, Luzariaga Rivera told the news outlet that her then-unborn child was being granted a $20,000 college scholarship through The First Responders Children’s Foundation.
“That is amazing,” Luzuriaga Rivera said of the gift. “I just think how fortunate and how lucky this baby — who is not even born — would have [this] to lean on.
“Because for me to go to school … it was hard for me,” she said. “So to have that financial support and not think about that part and go to college stress-free, it’s a blessing. I can’t be more grateful than that.”
