Allan Feliz’s Family Challenges NYPD Commissioner’s Refusal to Fire Killer Cop In State Supreme Court

By Center For Constitutional Rights

Photos: YouTube Screenshots

New York, NY – Thursday, the family of Allan Feliz asked the New York State Supreme Court to order NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to fire the police officer who killed him more than six years ago. In an oral argument on the landmark lawsuit filed by the family and Justice Committee in October 2025, their lawyers argued that Tisch abused her discretion when she rejected the ruling of her own deputy commissioner, who found Lt. Rivera guilty of excessive force and recommended he be fired. Rivera is the third officer to be found guilty for killing a New Yorker via an NYPD discipline trial, following  Daniel Pantaleo, who killed Eric Garner in 2014, and Richard Haste, who killed Ramarley Graham in 2012.

“I was born and raised in New York City, but now I can’t imagine staying in this place that has caused my family so much harm – I don’t want us to live in a place where police get away with killing people with impunity,” said Julie Aquino, partner of Allan Feliz and mother of Allan’s son, Eli. “I hope Justice Saunders sees this case for what it is: Jessica Tisch’s decision to overturn the guilty verdict was unjust and illegal. It should be reversed and Rivera should be fired. Then, this overwhelming fear that comes from knowing Lt. Rivera is patrolling the city will be relieved. Then I can tell our son there was finally some justice for his father.”

The Article 78 petition, filed on behalf of the Feliz family and Justice Committee by the Center for Constitutional Rights, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, Beldock, Levine, & Hoffman LLP, and civil rights attorney Gideon Oliver, says Commissioner Tisch’s “arbitrary and capricious” refusal to fire Rivera has caused the Feliz family harm that compounds their suffering over the loss of their loved one. 

“Lt. Rivera shot a teenager 16 times in 2013, wasn’t fired, and went on to kill Allan Feliz,” said Justice Committee Deputy Director Yul-san Liem. “He has a record seven lawsuits and 40 misconduct allegations, including multiple since taking Allan’s life. Commissioner Tisch’s decision to overturn her own Deputy Commissioner’s guilty verdict and allow Rivera to keep his badge and gun was illegal, corrupt, and a message to officers that they can abuse New Yorkers with impunity. In filing Samy Feliz v Jessica Tisch, we are calling on the court to recognize this and take action so that Rivera cannot harm anyone else and NYPD commissioners – including Tisch and any that come after her – understand that they are not above the law.”

“Allan Feliz should be alive today, and it is shocking that the NYPD promoted and continues to protect the individual who killed him, Lt. Jonathan Rivera,” said Samah Sisay, Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “Allan Feliz’s family and Justice Committee have been harmed by Police Commissioner Tisch’s irrational decision to ignore the trial evidence and recommendation to fire Lt. Rivera, and the court must hold her accountable.” 

“The refusal to fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera despite overwhelming evidence of misconduct and a clear recommendation for termination sends a dangerous message that NYPD officers who abuse their power and take lives can continue to operate with impunity,” said Andrew Case, Supervising Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. “For the Feliz family this case is about accountability, truth, and dignity. LatinoJustice PRLDEF stands with them in demanding that the courts reject this arbitrary decision and affirm that no officer is above the law.”

“Commissioner Tisch’s decision constitutes both a clear abuse of discretion and a complete disregard for police accountability,” said Olivia Clark, an attorney at Beldock Levine & Hoffman, LLP. “Her decision, which is neither legally or factually sound, should be reversed, and Rivera must finally be held responsible for the death of Allan Feliz, who would be alive today if not for Rivera’s violent conduct.”

The oral argument took place just days after 20 elected officials sent a letter to Mayor Zorhan Mamdani calling for Lt. Rivera to be fired in conjunction with a separate substantiated misconduct charge for an illegal summons he issued to a New Yorker a few years after killing Mr. Feliz. 

“It’s outrageous that we have to file a lawsuit and go back to court after over a decade of fighting NYPD and police union obstructions and ensuring Rivera faced a discipline trial and was found guilty,” said Samy Feliz, brother of Allan Feliz. “Tisch and Mamdani have the opportunity to do the right thing and put an end to our suffering right now. Rivera is a repeat offender. He’s got a separate serious misconduct case against him for harming someone else. Mayor Mamdani and Commissioner Tisch can and must fire him today.”

Background

On October 17, 2019, in the Bronx, Lt. Rivera, then a sergeant, and two other officers pulled Mr. Feliz over for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt. (Bodyworn camera footage would show the officers acknowledging that he was, in fact, wearing a seatbelt.) During the struggle that ensued, Sgt. Rivera climbed into the passenger side of the car, tasered, beat, threatened to shoot, and then shot Mr. Feliz in the chest, killing him. 

After several years of intentional delays by the NYPD, in May 2023, the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated fireable charges against Lt. Rivera. In November 2024, an NYPD discipline trial proved he killed Feliz because the struggle had tired him out. “My hand was getting tired,” he explained immediately afterward. He later claimed that he had feared for the life of one of the other officers. But Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado, who presided over the hearing, said his story was a “carefully constructed departure from the truth” that “fell apart under the weight of the credible evidence.”  Maldonado found Rivera guilty of excessive force and assault in the first degree and recommended his immediate termination.

In July 2025, Commissioner Tisch overturned the guilty verdict and issued a preliminary order dismissing charges against Lt. Rivera, relying on a 2020 Office of Attorney General (OAG) report. But the OAG was considering criminal charges and used a beyond-a-reasonable doubt standard, a higher burden of proof than the preponderance-of-evidence standard in police discipline proceedings. Further, the OAG report long predates the trial and does include the evidence that led to his guilty verdict. Commissioner Tisch issued her final decision to let Lt. Rivera walk in August 2025.

The Feliz family and Justice Committee are currently suing Commissioner Tisch for her arbitrary and capricious decision to ignore her Deputy Commissioner’s guilty verdict and let Rivera off with no discipline. Since killing Mr. Feliz in 2019, Jonathan Rivera was promoted to lieutenant and received another six misconduct allegations, including a substantiated unlawful summons. Rivera has been named in seven lawsuits, costing the City at least $115,000 in settlements so far.