Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes, of Nescopeck, Pa., is led from the Columbia County Courthouse following his sentencing, Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Bloomsburg, Pa. Sura Reyes, convicted of driving into a fundraiser crowd in Pennsylvania last summer, killing one and injuring 19 others, then going home and bludgeoning his mother to death was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without possibility of parole. (Bob Kalinowski/The Citizens’ Voice via AP)
A Pennsylvania man, Adrian Oswaldo Sura Reyes, is set to spend the rest of his days behind bars for plowing a vehicle into a crowd, killing one woman, then later hitting his mother with the vehicle and beating her to death with a hammer.
Online records show that Sura Reyes, 25, was sentenced to life for two counts of criminal homicide. He was also sentenced to between 123 1/2 to 380 years in prison for 19 counts of attempted homicide.
The defendant had encountered a group of about 75 people gathered outside the Intoxicology Department, a bar in Berwick, for a fundraiser on Aug. 13, 2022, according to the Associated Press. The group had been raising money to provide support after seven adults and three children died in a devastating house fire in nearby Nescopeck, some 115 miles northwest of Philadelphia, around a week earlier. Sura Reyes said that he drove past the fundraiser before turning around and plowing through the crowd.
The defendant then returned home to Nescopeck, where he saw his mother, Rosa Reyes, 56, on the street. He then struck her with the vehicle and beat her with a hammer several times.
Rebecca Reese, 50, was killed in the crowd collision. Nineteen people were injured, four of them critically, the Associated Press reported.
The defendant apparently told authorities he had been driving after arguing with his mother Aug. 13, 2022. He was “tired of fighting with his mother, including about money, and wanted to be done with it,” investigators reportedly said.
After his arrest, Sura Reyes waved at reporters as troopers escorted him into a vehicle.
“Hi,” he said at the time.
“I’m sorry,” he also said in a quiet voice. “I’m sorry.”
This is the man State Police say drove a car into the crowd of people at a fundraiser in Berwick for the victims of last Friday’s deadly fire in Nescopeck. He was later arrested at a home in Nescopeck where a woman was found dead. His name is being released shortly. pic.twitter.com/wgNk2gXgE8
— Chelsea Strub (@chelseastrub) August 14, 2022
Sura Reyes did not speak in the Columbia County Courthouse during his sentencing, but expressed regret to reporters afterwards.
“Yes,” he replied when asked by local news station when asked by reporters if he was sorry.
President Judge Gary Norton, however, told the defendant during the sentencing that the his crimes “were the result of pure evil.”
Reese’s children attended the sentencing. A son, Devin Reese, 28, welcomed the result of Tuesday’s hearing, saying his family was grateful.
“He is going to be inside prison for the rest of his life,” he said of Sura Reyes, according to the Associated Press. “I feel justice has been served.”
Defense lawyer Janan Tallo on Tuesday reportedly maintained his client was remorseful. Sura Reyes’ behavior was “not necessarily an evil criminal act” but more the result of a “mental health crisis.”
“Hopefully, today can be the day where healing perhaps begins for some of the victims,” Tallo said.
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