A Reading man has been arrested and charged with fatally stabbing a man walking home from work along River Road in May.
Oliver Paniagua-Pena, 39, was charged with first- and third-degree murder, and two counts each of aggravated and simple assault, and possessing an instrument of crime.
He was arraigned Thursday in front of District Judge F. Richard Drumheller and placed in Berks County Jail without bail.
Paniagua-Pena is accused of stabbing Leonardo Mercado-Gomez on May 9 as Mercado-Gomez walked home from his job at the Sun Rich Foods plant.
According to police:
Reading police responded to the 200 block of River Road about 2:45 p.m. on May 9 for a report of a man lying in the street with what appeared to be stab wounds on his back.
Mercado-Gomez was taken to Reading Hospital where he later died.
An examination of Mercado-Gomez’s body done by a doctor at the hospital found multiple, deep stab wounds to his head, face and back. Additional stab wounds were found on his left hand.
Police viewed surveillance camera footage from the area and saw Mercado-Gomez crossing the intersection of West Buttonwood Street and River Road. As he crossed, a person dressed all in black and wearing a balaclava-style mask was seen on a bicycle near the intersection.
As Mercado-Gomez continued to walk on River Road, the other man can be seen cycling quickly toward him. Both of them move out of view of cameras.
Police also spoke to a relative of Mercado-Gomez’s who lives in the Dominican Republic and was speaking to Mercado-Gomez as he walked.
The relative described hearing yelling and a commotion, as well as Mercado-Gomez yelling, “I didn’t do anything to you. Oh my God.”
The battery-powered bicycle was found near the crime scene.
Police collected DNA evidence from the bicycle, and results returned last month could not exclude Paniagua-Pena as a suspect.
It was discovered that Paniagua-Pena worked at Sun Rich Foods, the same company that employed Mercado-Gomez. Another employee told police that the two worked at workstations only a few feet apart.
Time clock records showed Paniagua-Pena left work about 15 minutes before Mercado-Gomez. A witness who worked at Sun Rich Foods told police that Paniagua-Pena was known to ride a bicycle that matched the description of the one found at the crime scene.