A city man faces murder charges after police said he shot his grandfather in the head over the weekend during a dispute in the victim’s home in northeast Reading.
Brandon L. Villasenor, 28, was taken into custody at his apartment in the 1100 block of North 11th Street shortly after the shooting about 9:20 p.m. Friday, investigators said.
Villasenor was charged with first- and third-degree murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses in the death of Manuel Molina.
After arraignment Saturday before District Judge Andrea Book in Reading Central Court, he was sent to Berks County Prison without bail to await a hearing.
Criminal Investigator John McKeever provided this account in the arrest affidavit:
A relative of Molina’s called 911, telling the dispatcher that her nephew, Villasenor, had shot her father in his home in the 1300 block of North 13th Street. The woman lives elsewhere but had been given the information by someone who resides in her father’s home.
When officers arrived, they found Molina dead in the second-floor hallway, with a bullet wound to his head.
They spoke to a witness who lives in the home.
She said Villasenor arrived at the home that evening and wanted to speak to his grandfather. He went up to Molina’s room and came down a short time later and waited in the kitchen with the witness.
Some time later Molina came down to the kitchen but Villasenor wasn’t there. He told the witness that Villasenor had a gun, and asked if he had left.
The witness was uncertain where Villasenor had gone and said the victim went looking for him.
The grandfather and the witness both went upstairs and found Villasenor in one of the bedrooms. The witness went to her room and heard Molina arguing with Villasenor, telling him he could not stay in the home.
After a few minutes, the witness heard a shot from the hallway. She left her room and found Molina on the floor.
While she was on the phone with the relative, she saw Villasenor at the stairs. He dashed down the stairs and left the house.
Officer learned Villasenor may be returning to his apartment. They went there and located him. After getting a search warrant, police searched his homes and found a 9 mm handgun in his room.
