Carbon County man convicted of 2016 home invasion murder in Reading

May 3—A Carbon County man who in 2016 invaded a Reading home along with another man and shot a brother and sister, killing the brother and leading to the death of the sister's unborn baby, has been convicted of first-degree murder and other charges.

Vaughn Felix, 33, of Nesquehoning was found guilty by Berks County Judge Thomas G. Parisi in a non-jury trial on 18 of the 19 charges filed against him. His sentencing is scheduled to take place on June 17.

"The proceedings in this case have been lengthy, to say the least," Berks District Attorney John Adams said Friday. "We are pleased to finally bring the perpetrator of this horrific crime to justice."

Felix was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, two charges each of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, robbery leading to the infliction of serious bodily injury, conspiracy to commit robbery leading to the infliction of serious bodily injury, burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, robbery with the threat of bodily injury, conspiracy to commit robbery with the threat of bodily injury, recklessly endangering another person and conspiracy to recklessly endangering another person.

Felix was found not guilty on a charge of carrying a firearm without a license.

According to authorities:

Felix was one of two out-of-town men who invaded a home in the 1700 block of Fairview Street on the morning of Dec. 2, 2016, in search of money and drugs. Felix shot 21-year-old Gregory Colona in the chest and back, and shot the man's 20-year-old sister in the head.

Colona died in the living room of his home. His sister, who was five months pregnant, survived, but ended up losing her baby following the shooting.

Felix and an accomplice robbed the house following the shooting, taking marijuana, cocaine, a TV, a watch and a gun that Colona was holding when he was shot.

The investigation into the shooting by Reading police initially stalled, with authorities saying there was little in the way of evidence. But police didn't give up, and through cellphone records, ballistics evidence and information from the Northampton County district attorney's office, were able to eventually get a break in the case.

Felix confessed to the shooting during an interview in Carbon County Prison with Reading detective David Lehman on Dec. 4, 2017. Felix was being held in prison on charges in an unrelated shooting and killing of a Verizon Wireless store employee, attempting to kidnap the employee's boss and committing several robberies in Northampton County in 2016.

Felix was convicted in the Northampton case and received a life sentence.

Following his confession, Felix was charged later in December 2017 with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, third-degree murder, conspiracy, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, recklessly endangering another person and carrying a firearm without a license.

Felix was not charged with the death of the unborn baby, with prosecutors saying at the time they did not feel they had enough evidence to do so.

Two other men were also charged in December 2017 in the killing of Colona.

Gregory Lewis, 34, of Stroudsburg was with Felix during the home invasion. He was charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder, conspiracy, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary and recklessly endangering another person

Lewis saw his trial come to an abrupt end in 2020 when Felix refused to testify against him and the Berks district attorney's office dropped the charges against him. However, Lewis was already serving a life sentence plus 113 to 227 years for his involvement in the 2016 killing of the Northampton Verizon Wireless store employee, for which Felix was also convicted.

Adams said Friday that he is happy both of the men involved in Colona's killing will spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

"Both of the perpetrators of this horrific homicide will never be released from jail," he said.

Dervy Matos-Mancebo, 30, of Allentown was not at the scene of the shooting when it happened, but directed Felix and Lewis to the home, telling them that drugs and money were inside.

Matos-Mancebo was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery that inflicted serious bodily injury. He pleaded guilty in September 2020 and was sentenced to 2 1/2 to eight years in state prison and deported.