A 35-year-old Reading man was convicted by a jury of murdering an acquaintance in a midday shooting in downtown Reading in 2023.

Vincent Sanchez, formerly of the 100 block of South Sixth Street,  was found guilty of first-degree murder Friday following a four-day trial. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole for the crime.

Sanchez was convicted of killing 44-year-old Ellis Garman Sr. at South Sixth and Cherry streets on the afternoon of July 21, 2023.

According to police:

Officers responded to a report of a shooting at about 2:30 p.m. When they arrived they found Garman in the middle of the street. Reading Fire Department medic crew performed lifesaving procedures before Garman was taken by ambulance to Reading Hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Officers found a pool of blood next to a parked car. The driver’s side and front-passenger doors were open.

A witness who was a passenger in the car, which was registered to Garman, said the victim was driving north in the 100 block of South Sixth Street when he saw Sanchez on the sidewalk.

Garman and his passenger knew Sanchez as a result of family-related issues, the witness told police.

Sanchez signaled that he wanted Garman and a passenger to get out of the car and fight him, so Garman parked.

Sanchez walked up to the driver’s side door, took a handgun from the fanny pack strapped across his chest and began arguing with Garman. Sanchez then struck Garman in the face with the gun.

Garman and his passenger got out of the car and fought with Sanchez, who still had his gun. Another person approached and tried to take the gun from Sanchez but was only able to release and take the ammunition magazine.

Footage from a city pole-mounted camera shows the trio continued fighting for about two minutes before Garman and his passenger got back in the car.

Garman began to drive away when Sanchez walked up to the drivers’ side and fired a single shot. The car lurched forward and then stopped in the middle of the street.

Garman opened the door, got out and then fell. Sanchez fled.

Reading police worked for ninth months with the U.S. Marshals Service to apprehend Sanchez. He was taken into custody in May 2024 in New York.