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Left inset: Jonathan Romero. Right inset: David Manriquez. Background: Police at the Nevada home where Jonathan Romero killed David Manriquez in an execution-style shooting (KLAS/YouTube).
A Nevada resident has confessed to a chilling crime involving his ex-girlfriend’s new partner. Jonathan Romero, 35, admitted to breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s home, finding her new boyfriend hidden in the bedroom closet, and fatally shooting him.
Romero’s guilty plea last week to first-degree murder stems from the death of 18-year-old David Manriquez in July 2008. This revelation comes from a report by local CBS affiliate KLAS. The case moved forward in June when a Clark County grand jury heard testimony from Romero’s former girlfriend. She recounted how he appeared at her Las Vegas residence months after their breakup, forced his way in, and rushed upstairs to confront Manriquez.
During her testimony, the woman vividly described the harrowing scene: “He looked into the room on the left before entering the master bedroom where David was hiding in the closet,” she said. “[Manriquez] attempted to intervene, but [Romero] shot him in the back of his head.”
Further details emerged from police testimonies, revealing that Romero fired multiple shots at Manriquez and then fled the scene. Officers tracked a blood trail that extended from the interior of the house, out the front door, and continued several blocks down the street, as detailed by a detective during the grand jury proceedings.
“There was a blood trail that led from inside the house out the front door and down, I want to say, several blocks,” a detective testified, according to KLAS.
Romero managed to evade police for more than 15 years before being captured in Mexico in May 2025. He initially pleaded not guilty to charges of murder with a deadly weapon, attempted murder with a deadly weapon, and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon before accepting a plea deal last week for first-degree murder.
“We just want him to pay what he did to my son,” said Manriquez’s father, Jaime Manriquez, in an interview with KLAS last year.
“He’s a coward,” added Manriquez’s sister, Ruby Manriquez. “We kind of were not ever expecting him to get caught. It was a shock. We were expecting you know, God to handle it, but he’ll get his justice here and hopefully it’s enough.”
Romero is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26. He’s facing between 20 and 50 years in prison, with credit for time served, as part of his plea agreement.