READING, Pa. – A family in Reading is pleading for help after a father was stabbed in plain daylight.
A man chased his American dream with a hopeful heart, but his journey was tragically cut short.
“He didn’t deserve a death like that, like some street criminal — a hardworking person like my brother,” said Nancy Mercado Gomez.
Leonardo Mercado Gomez, 56, was leaving work at Sun Rich Foods in Reading on May 9 at 2 in the afternoon.
“It happened in broad daylight,” said José Gomez Guzman.
Without warning, he was stabbed to death on River Road.
“My dad was talking to my uncle on the phone when he was attacked,” said Gomez Guzman. “That’s why we know someone attacked him without saying a word.”
A father of four, a son, and a grandfather ripped away from his loved ones — just three months after arriving in the U.S. from the Dominican Republic.
“When the police officers told me my dad was stabbed 12 times, I couldn’t believe it,” said Leonardo Gomez Guzman.
His killer remains at large.
“If he were to give a reason, I would say today, ‘OK, my brother behaved badly,’ but he was a man who knew how to value and respect others,” Mercado Gomez said. “This harmful person who did this is part of a plague — bad people hurting hardworking people.”
His family describes him as a loving and dedicated man, always teaching his children the value of hard work and respect.
“He was 56 when that happened, but he never got in trouble,” said Gomez Guzman. “I don’t have one story of my dad in trouble or fighting anyone.”
“He always worked. My brother and I learned from him, if you want to get something you need to work for it. Nothing in life is free,” said Gomez Guzman.
His family, united in love and pain, pleads for help finding the man who took Leonardo’s life.
“As a family, we are deeply hurt by the damage he has done to us, damage that we will never be able to repair. We want him to be given a life sentence,” Mercado Gomez said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Reading Police Department.