Joseph J. Basnight, a 33-year-old Black/African American male from Reading, Pennsylvania, died on August 20, 2019, after a shooting inside a city apartment. What began as a confrontation tied to counterfeit bills ended with gunfire, leaving Basnight fatally wounded in an apartment in the 100 block of South Third Street. He was remembered in his obituary as a son, a father, and a sibling, survived by his mother, his daughter, two sisters, and a brother.
The investigation later centered on
Bryan Casiano-Figueroa of Reading. Reports connected the shooting to a dispute involving counterfeit bills, and Casiano-Figueroa was identified as the man responsible for shooting Basnight. The case moved from the violence of that August night into the Berks County court system, where prosecutors pursued accountability for Basnight's death.
Casiano-Figueroa ultimately pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in connection with the 2019 shooting. In January 2021, the Berks County District Attorney's Office announced that he had been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in state prison. The available online reports identify Casiano-Figueroa as the charged and convicted suspect; no additional named suspects were identified in the accessible online source material reviewed.
