On a spring evening in Reading, Pennsylvania, Jhamar S. Goodman, a 32-year-old man, was fatally shot on May 27, 2015. The incident that led to his death also claimed the life of 22-year-old Brenda Cisneros and left another man, Wesley Allison, with injuries.
The events unfolded in the first block of South Eighth Street when an argument broke out between Nathaniel B. Spencer Jr., who was with his girlfriend Brenda Cisneros, and another man, Wesley Allison, who was with Jhamar S. Goodman.
The verbal dispute quickly escalated into a physical altercation. In the midst of the confrontation, Spencer produced a firearm and fired multiple shots. The gunfire struck Goodman, Cisneros, and Allison. Both Goodman and Cisneros succumbed to their injuries.
Within a couple of hours of the shooting, Nathaniel B. Spencer Jr., then 27, turned himself in to the Reading Police Department. Initially, he faced charges of first-degree murder for the deaths of Goodman and Cisneros. The investigation was aided by surveillance footage that captured the argument and the subsequent shooting.
Ultimately, Spencer entered a guilty plea to two counts of voluntary manslaughter, in addition to charges of aggravated assault and possessing a firearm with an altered manufacturer's number. He was sentenced to a term of 25 to 60 years in state prison. As part of his sentence, he was also ordered to pay restitution to the families of both Jhamar S. Goodman and Brenda Cisneros.
