Texas man is accused of killing ex-wife, 37, during Las Vegas getaway

The children of a Texas mother who was allegedly murdered by her ex-husband during a Las Vegas weekend getaway are not able to attend her funeral because of ‘jurisdictional issues.’

Nydia Lopez-Garcia, 37, was found dead in a room at the MGM Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip on May 28.

Fernando Gomez, 42, her ex-husband who she split from last year, was arrested and accused of killing her.

According to police, Gomez ‘killed his ex-wife and then injured himself before calling police.’ On the 911 call, he told officers: ‘I cut her throat with glass,’ reports KSNV.

The pair, who shared three children, were married for 14 years, but they decided to split in 2022.

However, they recently reconnected and decided to spend the weekend together in Las Vegas.

Lopez-Garcia’s cause of death was listed as strangulation, with other significant injuries, and sharp force injuries to the head and neck.

Their three children also joined them in Las Vegas – but were staying in a different hotel room.

Now, the family are facing another struggle. Candace Garza, Nydia Lopez-Garcia’s sister, says that two of the kids haven’t been able to return home to Mesquite, Texas because Gomez still has parental rights over them.

The two youngest children can’t attend their mother’s funeral as a result.

It could take two months before the children can come back to Texas, their aunt claims.

Garza told CBS: ‘The children were in a different hotel room. My sister did fight to get back to the children. It was a brutal murder due to domestic violence.

‘[The children] were released to me, but we’re not allowed to leave Clark County until the jurisdiction details get sorted out between Las Vegas and Dallas.

‘I’m told that the judges in Las Vegas need to communicate with the judges in Texas and they have to transfer jurisdiction.

‘It’s honestly.. and I don’t say this lightly.. it’s the most difficult, challenging that I’ve ever dealt with in my entire life. ‘Your sister is taken from you in a brutal murder, there’s orphans that can’t go home.

‘They’re not even allowed to go to their mother’s funeral. We’re trying to delay her funeral so we can get them home to attend and time is running out.

‘They’re grieving with just one person instead of a family supporting them, surrounding them with love.’

The GoFundMe page read: ‘At the heart of this story is a family that has suffered an unimaginable act.

Three children lost their mother due to a senseless act of violence, and they are now overwhelmed in the midst of their grief with where to go next.

‘Their mother was the victim of domestic violence and lost her life on May 28th, 2023 in a hotel room in MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

‘Currently, their Aunt Candace, on their mothers side has just received emergency custody of them but will need to remain in Las Vegas for now (they live in a suburb of Dallas TX).’