READING, Pa. – Berks County District Attorney John Adams will hold a news conference Monday morning providing an update on an arrest in a deadly stabbing in Reading.
Police arrested Oliver Paniagua Pena and charged him with first-degree murder.
They say DNA evidence led to his arrest for the deadly stabbing of Leonardo Mercado Gomez.
On May 9 at 2 p.m., Mercado-Gomez, 56, was leaving work at Sun Rich Foods when, without warning, he was stabbed to death on River Road, his family shared following the incident.
Officers from the Reading Police Department previously said they responded to the 200 block of River Road and found Mercado-Gomez, suffering from multiple stab wounds.
EMS transported Mercado-Gomez to Reading Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, officials say.
Officials are also expected to address the new arrests in the case of missing man Michael Petrino Jr.
Josiah Vaux, 23, and Luke Foxx, 21, are charged with second-degree murder.
So far, eight people are charged in relation to Petrino’s disappearance and presumed death.
Police said on March 25, Petrino was lured to the area of North Sercond and Oley streets in Reading by Amir Frazier, Jayden Santiago and Jayden Edwards. There, they met three other defendants — Jazmiere Brockington, Khalil Nein and Gerson Caicedo — who forcibly put Petrino in the trunk of the car they were driving before leaving and traveling to a secluded area near Birdsboro, authorities say.
From there, investigators say they believe Petrino was handed over to Vaux and Foxx.
Investigators said they believe Vaux and Foxx, who were armed, tied Petrino up after the exchange and put him in the trunk of the car they were driving before they left the area.
Petrino has not been seen since.
We’ll have all the details from that news conference on air and online at wfmz.com.
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