LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Texas man is facing an open murder charge for allegedly killing his former wife on Sunday in an MGM Grand hotel room on the Las Vegas Strip.
According to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, a call about a suicidal man was received around 1:33 p.m. on May 28.
Police said the man was identified as 42-year-old Fernando Gomez and that he killed his ex-wife and injured himself before calling police.
According to an arrest report, Gomez told 911 that his wife was dead and that he had tried to kill himself. When police arrived at their MGM Grand hotel room, they found a naked woman, identified as Nydia Lopez-Garcia, 37, on the floor. Medical personnel determined that she was beyond help and pronounced her dead on the scene.
The report stated that Gomez had several self-inflicted wounds on his forearms and neck. When asked what happened, Gomez told police “I cut her throat with glass.”
According to the report, in the 911 call, Gomez told dispatch that he had “make [sic] a mistake of [his] life” and that he had fought with the mother of his kids. “We tried to kill each other and she’s dead,” he told 911. He then said that he tried to kill himself.
Gomez and Lopez-Garcia had been married for 14 years before they split in 2022. The two have two children together, and he helped raise her eldest son. Gomez told police that Lopez-Garcia had reached out to him earlier in the month and they would meet up for “occasional sex.”
The report stated that Gomez told police that Lopez-Garcia said the two should “just kill each other and leave everything to their children.” Gomez admitted that he was not a good father or husband, but that he wanted to work things out with Lopez-Garcia.
According to the report, Gomez asked Lopez-Garcia if she wanted to go to Las Vegas, and she agreed but did not want anyone to know she was back with Gomez. The report stated that she told her children she was meeting with a man named Sam. The children stayed at Mandalay Bay during the visit while Gomez and Lopez-Garcia stayed at the MGM Grand.
Gomez told police that he booked separate hotels so the children would not see him.
On May 25, Gomez flew from Dallas to Vegas to check in at each hotel. The report stated that Gomez told police that Lopez-Garcia joined him and “they had a good time together” on Friday and Saturday.
On Sunday morning, at around 2 a.m., Gomez extended their stay by one night at the request of his ex-wife. Gomez told police that they then went back to their room, where they started to have sex before Lopez-Garcia said they should “just kill [themselves].”
According to the report and Gomez, Lopez-Garcia smashed a bottle on the ground and held a piece of glass to her own throat. She told him to “do it” and to “not be an [expletive].”
Gomez told police that he grabbed the glass from her and pushed it into her neck. He said she was laughing as he pushed it in. According to the report, he took the same glass and cut his own arms and neck before he passed out.
After he woke up, he showered and cleaned up before calling a friend to tell them what he had done. According to the report, he asked them to cash his last paycheck and give it to Lopez-Garcia’s father for the children.
The report stated that he wanted to jump off the building, but one of his friends talked him out of it and he called the police. Gomez told police that he was guilty of killing her and that he “had nothing to hide.”
Police officers were able to locate the three children at Mandalay Bay. Child Protective Services have taken custody of them.
Gomez was taken into custody and transported to University Medical Center for his injuries.
