Man enters guilty plea in Hard Rock murder

A Santa Cruz man faces a half-century in prison after he entered a guilty plea in the March 25, 2023, shooting death of South Lake Tahoe resident Omar Reyes Garcia on the casino floor of the Hard Rock Casino.

Edgar Delgado, 24, entered the plea in Douglas County District Court before Judge Tom Gregory on Tuesday, prosecutor Jim Sibley said.

Delgado admitted to first degree homicide with an enhancement for use of a firearm.

Under the agreement, Delgado agreed to be sentenced to 20-50 years in prison with 2-5 years for the deadly weapon enhancement, which would otherwise carry a sentence of 1-20 years. According to court documents, Delgado may withdraw his plea if the judge seeks to sentence him to more time.

He was scheduled for a 10-day trial starting July 16.

Delgado and Garcia were drinking and talking that night and video even showed them comparing tattoos when Delgado took out a pistol and pulled back the slide, then put it back, at least three times before shooting Garcia in the middle of the casino.

After the shooting, Delgado and his girlfriend hurriedly packed up and drove away from the casino as authorities gathered for what was initially reported as a mass shooting.

They were stopped at Highway 50 and Tamarack Pines by El Dorado County Sheriff’s deputies who were on the lookout for the couple’s Toyota 4Runner.

There were clear signs that Delgado had been drinking. An investigator testified that Delgado didn’t deny the shooting but wouldn’t say why he pulled the trigger, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing.

Friends and relatives raised more than $41,000 in funeral expenses for Garcia, who was buried at Happy Homestead Cemetery in South Lake Tahoe a year ago Wednesday.