Eddi Moreno faces up to 20 years in prison after accepting a reduced charge in the 2024 shooting of Joe Moreno.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A Las Vegas man accused of fatally shooting his next-door neighbor during a heated confrontation outside their homes has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon, resolving the murder case before trial but leaving a judge to decide how long he will spend in prison.

Eddi Moreno, 34, accepted the plea agreement during a court appearance Tuesday in the killing of 47-year-old Joe Moreno, who shared his last name but was not related to him. The shooting happened on May 13, 2024, in the 2200 block of Starline Meadows Place, a residential street in western Las Vegas. Eddi Moreno had originally been arrested on an open murder charge after police said the two neighbors argued and he opened fire. Under the agreement, he admitted to the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter and a related deadly weapon enhancement. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 29.

The plea significantly narrows the legal questions remaining in the case. Nevada law classifies voluntary manslaughter as a category B felony carrying a prison term of one to 10 years. The deadly weapon enhancement requires a separate, consecutive term that also may range from one to 10 years, according to the plea terms reported after the hearing. That means the judge could impose a combined sentence of as little as two years or as much as 20 years, although the court will consider the agreement, the facts of the case and arguments from both sides before selecting a sentence.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers were sent to Starline Meadows Place at about 7:07 p.m. after receiving a report of a shooting. They found Joe Moreno wounded in a driveway. Medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. Officers detained Eddi Moreno, then 32, and homicide detectives began examining what had happened before the gunfire. Police said their initial investigation showed that the men had been involved in a verbal dispute and that Eddi Moreno was holding a firearm during the confrontation. Investigators concluded that he shot his neighbor during that encounter.

Accounts attributed to court records added detail to the confrontation. Joe Moreno had reportedly been locked out of his residence after an earlier disagreement and was walking outside when Eddi Moreno returned home. Eddi Moreno told investigators that his neighbor threatened him and behaved in a sexually inappropriate way while standing near the homes. He then instructed his wife to retrieve his gun and call 911, according to descriptions of the records published by Las Vegas television station KLAS and Law&Crime.

The records described the argument continuing after the firearm was brought outside. Eddi Moreno warned Joe Moreno not to approach and threatened to shoot him. A doorbell camera captured part of the exchange, including Eddi Moreno making an explicit threat to kill his neighbor, according to the published account. Joe Moreno then moved toward him while reaching near his clothing, Eddi Moreno told police. Eddi Moreno fired multiple rounds, striking Joe Moreno. The available reports do not indicate that investigators recovered a weapon from Joe Moreno or that he fired a gun.

What might otherwise have been presented to a jury as a dispute over murder, self-defense or a lesser homicide offense ended with Eddi Moreno’s admission to voluntary manslaughter. Nevada law defines that crime around a killing committed after serious provocation or an attempted serious injury that would produce an intense passion in a reasonable person. The guilty plea means prosecutors will not have to prove the original murder allegation beyond a reasonable doubt, and the defense will not have to persuade jurors that the shooting was justified or that the evidence supported a less serious verdict.

The threat recorded before the shooting and Eddi Moreno’s reported remarks afterward were likely to be important evidence had the case gone to trial. According to the court-record account, he said after the gunfire that Joe Moreno had received what he deserved and referred to his neighbor’s conduct in front of his children. Those statements could have been used by prosecutors to challenge a claim that the shooting was a sudden, unavoidable act of protection. The defense, meanwhile, could have pointed to the alleged threats, Joe Moreno’s movements and the confrontation’s unusual circumstances in arguing that Eddi Moreno reacted to provocation or perceived danger.

Joe Moreno’s relatives said after his death that he had bipolar disorder and had stopped taking prescribed medication about six months before the shooting. His family described his behavior that day as part of a mental health crisis but said it did not justify killing him. His mother, Connie Moreno, publicly rejected any suggestion that her son’s condition excused the shooter’s actions. The family’s statements provided context for Joe Moreno’s reported behavior while also underscoring their position that Eddi Moreno had other choices besides bringing a gun into the dispute.

The case developed over more than two years. Police arrested Eddi Moreno on the night of the shooting, and prosecutors pursued a murder case. He later entered a not-guilty plea, keeping open the possibility of a trial in which jurors would have been asked to sort through the video evidence, witness statements, forensic findings and competing descriptions of the men’s conduct. The voluntary manslaughter agreement avoids that trial and establishes criminal responsibility for the death, although it does not resolve every disagreement about what prompted the encounter or how much danger Eddi Moreno believed he faced.

The distinction between the original charge and the admitted offense may be central at sentencing. Prosecutors can emphasize that Eddi Moreno asked for a gun, issued a recorded death threat and fired several times during a neighborhood argument. Defense lawyers can focus on Joe Moreno’s alleged threats, reported exposure and approach toward Eddi Moreno, as well as any information about their client’s background and conduct after his arrest. Joe Moreno’s family may also be permitted to describe the effects of his death before the court imposes punishment.

No sentence was imposed when the plea was entered. Eddi Moreno remains subject to the court’s judgment, and the precise minimum and maximum terms within the two statutory ranges will be set at the Sept. 29 hearing. Until then, the guilty plea stands as his formal admission that he unlawfully killed his neighbor with a firearm during the May 2024 confrontation.

Author note: Last updated July 22, 2026.