On a tragic evening in Reading, Pennsylvania, a young woman's life was cut short in a burst of violence. Brenda Cisneros, a 22-year-old Hispanic female, was fatally shot on May 27, 2015. She had been walking with her boyfriend, Nathaniel B. Spencer Jr., in the first block of South Eighth Street when an argument erupted between Spencer and two other men, Wesley Allison and Jhamar S.
Goodman.
The verbal dispute quickly escalated into a physical altercation, during which Spencer produced a firearm and fired multiple shots. The gunfire resulted in the deaths of both Brenda Cisneros and Jhamar S. Goodman. Wesley Allison was also wounded in the incident but survived. The entire chaotic and tragic event was captured by surveillance cameras in the area.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Nathaniel B. Spencer Jr., then a 27-year-old from Birdsboro, turned himself in to the Reading Police Department approximately two hours later. He was subsequently charged with two counts of homicide. Initially facing first-degree murder charges, Spencer later pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and possessing a firearm with an altered manufacturer's number. He claimed to have acted in self-defense, a claim prosecutors contested with the surveillance footage. Ultimately, Spencer was sentenced to 25 to 60 years in state prison for his role in the deaths of Cisneros and Goodman and was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims' families.
