Guilty plea in killing of man stabbed 50 times, shot at Fort Worth incinerator
One of two defendants who law enforcement authorities allege had a role in the killing in Fort Worth of a man who was stabbed at least 50 times and shot in the forehead has accepted Tarrant County prosecutors’ plea offer.
Giovanni Delgado pleaded guilty to murder in the June 2022 slaying of Leonardo Rosales, who was 18. Under the terms of the offer, visiting Judge Everett Young on May 5 sentenced Delgado to 30 years in prison.
Rosales’ body was found in a paved area at an abandoned incinerator that police said is known for graffiti, gunshot reports and discarded stolen vehicles. The isolated area is in the 3200 block of Yuma Drive in south Fort Worth.
At least four bullets were removed from Rosales’ body during an autopsy.
At least 50 stab wounds were noted, according to the arrest warrant affidavit prepared by a Fort Worth Police Department homicide detective that was intended to support Delgado’s arrest. Rosales appeared to have stab wounds to his face, arms and neck.
Rosales’ clothing was soaked with rain. Blood covered a small area of plants beside him. Multiple .45 caliber cartridge casings were found near the body.
Also indicted on murder in the June 3, 2022, killing is Alvaro Sanchez Garcia, 21. He was arrested six days after the killing. Police identified Delgado as a suspect 13 months later, in July 2023.
The Sanchez Garcia indictment is pending in Criminal District Court No. 1. He is being held in a Tarrant County jail with a bond set at $150,000.
Delgado said in an interview with detectives that an argument erupted between Sanchez Garcia and Rosales inside a Chevrolet Suburban, according to the affidavit.
Sanchez Garcia was driving, Rosales was in the front passenger seat and Delgado was in a back seat.
Delgado told police that Rosales was stabbed after the three men got out of the SUV.
As he was describing the stabbing to Kent Bickley, who was then a detective, Delgado grabbed his own neck. Knowing that Rosales was stabbed repeatedly in the neck, Bickley asked why Delgado had moved his fingers to that part of his body.
Delgado initially said that he was standing on the opposite side of SUV from the other two men when he heard screams, looked around and saw a knife sticking out of Rosales’ neck. Delgado said he saw Sanchez Garcia holding the knife and standing next to the victim, according to the affidavit.
As the interview continued, Delgado said that he did not stab Rosales, but that he was beside Sanchez Garcia when Garcia was stabbing Rosales and not on the other side of the SUV as he initially said, according to the affidavit.
Delgado said that he tried to take the knife away from Sanchez Garcia while Sanchez Garcia was stabbing Rosales. Delgado eventually told police that he accidentally stabbed Rosales while trying to take the knife from Sanchez Garcia, according to the affidavit.
Sanchez Garcia told police that he and Delgado shot and stabbed the victim during a fight, according to an affidavit.
The number of stab wounds and multiple gunshot wounds inflicted on Rosales, “far exceed any reasonable amount that would constitute self-defense when both suspects had the vehicle and could have fled once the victim was incapacitated or knocked to the ground,” Bickley wrote in the affidavit.
This story was originally published May 12, 2025 at 2:03 PM.
