Reading murder suspect in Berks jail following extradition to Pa. from Texas

Sep. 25—The third suspect in the ambush shooting of a Reading man in the year's first murder is in Berks County Prison following his extradition from Texas.

Jason Nival, 26, whose last known address is in the 500 block of Moss Street, was jailed without bail after arraignment Saturday before District Judge Kyley L. Scott in Reading Central Court.

He faces charges of first- and third-degree murder, conspiracy and weapons charges.

Nival was arrested Sept. 8 during a traffic stop by sheriff deputies in Guadalupe County, Texas, on a warrant from Reading police, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams said.

He was held in the Guadalupe County jail while awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.

He's the last of three suspects—all brothers—to be captured in the Jan. 18 shooting of Eric Ferrer.

Ferrer, 47, was fatally wounded by bullets from three guns near his apartment in the 300 block of Washington Street.

The other two suspects, Julio Nival, 19, of Reading, and Angelo Delgado, 18, of Bronx, N.Y., were arrested in late July and charged with first- and third-degree murders, conspiracy and charges related to the January shooting.

According to the criminal complaints:

Just before 7:30 p.m., Ferrer was returning to his Washington Towers apartment at Fourth and Washington streets when the car he was driving was ambushed in the 300 block of Washington.

A person who was in the car with Ferrer said three males, two of whom were wearing masks, walked in front of Ferrer's car. Ferrer stopped to allow the trio to walk past.

Just before turning into the parking garage of the apartment building, Ferrer and his passenger looked back toward the three males as they started shooting at the car.

Video footage from a nearby security camera shows the car suddenly turning into the garage and the three suspects scattering.

Footage from the apartment building showed the three suspects leaving a residence on the opposite side of the street just before the shooting.

Police responded and found the bullet-riddled car in the garage, with Ferrer mortally wounded in the back seat. He was taken to Reading Hospital where he later died.

Officers recovered a total of 10 shell casings from three different firearms. Five bullets struck the victim's car.

Two of the suspects fled on foot and were recorded on nearby security cameras. They were later identified as Jason Nival and Delgado.

On Jan. 18 about 2:15 a.m., roughly seven hours after the shooting, a city-owned camera recorded a Ford F-150 pickup truck arrived at the apartment building. The driver, Jason Nival, went into the convenience store and made a purchase using a Capital One credit card. Investigators obtained a search warrant to confirm the identity of the buyer as Jason Nival.

About a month later, police stopped the same vehicle in the 600 block of Maple Street for an unspecified reason. During the stop, investigators recognized the driver and passenger as the males in the security camera footage — Nival and Delgado. Both men provided their cellphone numbers to police.

Investigators used a search warrant to trace the suspects' phone calls and travels just before and after the shooting. According to cell tower pings, the two cellphones were in use near the scene around the time the shooting occurred and they exchanged calls soon after.