READING, Pa. — A Reading teen was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the 2023 shooting death of 30-year-old Natalie Classen, prosecutors said.
Henry Mendoza, who was a juvenile at the time of the June 15, 2023, shooting, admitted to deliberately killing Classen in the early morning hours, according to officials. Mendoza entered a non-negotiated guilty plea, which allowed the court to impose the maximum sentence.
In a separate case from the same week, Mendoza was convicted by a jury on November 20, 2024, of charges including two counts of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder for a drive-by shooting at 13th and Green Streets in Reading. Sentencing for that case is scheduled for January 9, 2025.
Both cases were investigated by Reading Police Department Criminal Investigator Steve Valdez and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Daniel P. Troy.
Mendoza now faces decades in prison for a series of violent crimes that shook the Reading community.