Man pleads to murder and kidnapping in 2021 robbery-turned-homicide

Edgar Orona Camacho pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of a man he met while the two were shooting guns in a deserted area off Interstate 40 near the Route 66 Casino.

Orona Camacho, 31, fired several gunshots that killed 21-year-old Esteban Mercado-Rangel as part of a scheme to steal the younger man’s car on Nov. 15, 2021, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies wrote in a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

Orona Camacho also pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping for forcing Mercado-Rangel’s younger sister, then 16, into his car at gunpoint and driving from the scene after the killing. The girl later escaped from the car without injury.

Orona Camacho faces up to 25 years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for July 31.

Attorneys for the prosecution and the defense agreed that prosecutors would have a strong case at trial.

Kelly Golightley, Orona Camacho’s attorney, said investigators interviewed Mercado-Rangel’s sister. “Based on her testimony alone, I believe that the state could go forward on these charges,” she said.

The plea agreement emerged from an hour-long settlement conference with District Judge Pro Tem Charles Brown, Golightley said. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed a variety of other charges against Orona Camacho, including auto burglary, larceny conspiracy.

Sheriff’s deputies alleged in the criminal complaint that Orona Camacho and a co-defendant, Erick Garcia, conspired to steal Mercado-Rangel’s car after they met by chance at a remote location where they were all shooting guns near Route 66 Casino. During the robbery, Orona Camacho shot Mercado-Rangel multiple times. He died at the scene.

Investigators used Facebook messages to link Orona Camacho and Garcia to a plan to rob Mercado-Rangel, the complaint stated.

Garcia, 24, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. No trial has been scheduled in his case.