An Allentown man who spent roughly 16 months hospitalized after being shot in Philadelphia has died, and prosecutors have responded by filing a new murder charge against the man already convicted in connection with the same attack. Jose A. Ramos Cepeda, 39, died from injuries he suffered in an April 2025 shooting, and his death has reopened a case that already sent a Philadelphia man to a guilty plea.
Prosecutors filed the new murder charge against Deiby Rivera Gonzalez on Tuesday, according to NBC10 Philadelphia. Rivera Gonzalez, now facing the additional count tied specifically to Ramos Cepeda's death, was already awaiting sentencing in the original case stemming from the same shooting. A preliminary hearing on the new murder charge is scheduled for October 13, per the station's report.
Ramos Cepeda died Sunday, more than a year after he was shot, according to mcall.com. His cause of death was ruled multiple gunshot wounds by Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio, the outlet reported, and the death was classified a homicide.
A Daylight Shooting in Juniata Park
Ramos Cepeda and Jaylisa Quinones-Pinet, 33, were both shot in the 1500 block of East Luzerne Street in Philadelphia's Juniata Park section on April 30, 2025, according to lehighvalleylive.com, which reported the shooting occurred at around 9:30 a.m. CBS News Philadelphia also reported the shooting happened at around 9:30 a.m., according to cbsnews.com.
Quinones-Pinet, of Philadelphia, was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead, the outlet's report noted. Ramos Cepeda, of Allentown, was in critical condition and remained hospitalized until his death this month, the same report said. Police recovered six .223-caliber rifle casings at the scene, the outlet reported, indicating the shooter used a rifle.
Guilty Plea Already Entered, Sentencing Still Pending
Rivera Gonzalez, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty in July to third-degree murder, possessing an instrument of crime, attempted kidnapping and attempted murder in connection with the original incident, per the same account from mcall.com. He had been scheduled to be sentenced in November, with the seed reporting from NBC10 Philadelphia specifying November 26 as the date.
Rivera Gonzalez was identified with conflicting ages across different reports. Police and contemporaneous 2025 coverage identified him as 56 years old, while later reporting from mcall.com identified him as 57. Philadelphia police had asked the public for help locating him after the shooting, and he was arrested in November 2025, according to the seed facts from NBC10 Philadelphia.
What Comes Next
With Ramos Cepeda's death now ruled a homicide, the case adds a second fatal outcome to the April 2025 shooting, and Rivera Gonzalez faces the new murder charge alongside his pending sentencing in the original prosecution. The preliminary hearing next month will be the next public step in determining how the added charge proceeds through the courts.
