Billings man admits to birthday party shooting [Video]

A Billings man admitted Wednesday to terrorizing a birthday party in midtown with gunfire, wounding a man and instigating a standoff with law enforcement following a nearby murder.

Thomas John Slevira Jr., 33, pleaded guilty in Yellowstone County District Court to multiple counts of assault and entered a plea of no contest to a charge of deliberate homicide. While he did not admit it in court, Slevira is not disputing the accusation from prosecutors that he shot and killed Carlos Delao in January 2023 before breaking into and barricading himself inside a midtown home.

County prosecutors are recommending a 90-year prison sentence for Slevira, according to a plea agreement filed Wednesday.

On Jan. 8. 2023, surveillance footage recovered by investigators with the Billings Police Department …