LAS VEGAS (TCN) — A 35-year-old man turned himself in to police for allegedly strangling an escort in his hotel room, causing her to die from her injuries days later.
According to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, officers went to Spring Valley Hospital on the evening of June 12 after learning about a female patient who had been brought in and was likely the victim of a battery. She reportedly was found unresponsive in a hotel room on the 4300 block of West Flamingo Road, which KLAS-TV reports is the Palms Casino Resort.
Police said the victim, identified by KLAS as Larissa Garcia, remained in critical condition until her death on June 21. Homicide detectives began investigating and identified Jason Kendall as a suspect.
On Friday, June 28, Kendall went to Las Vegas Metro Police headquarters and surrendered to law enforcement. He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Clark County Jail on charges of open murder, sexual assault, and battery by strangulation to commit sexual assault.
According to KLAS, Kendall reportedly called police on June 12 and said a woman was overdosing in his room. Security went to the room and found her with a cut to the jaw. Medical tests, however, showed no signs of drugs or alcohol in her system.
Video footage allegedly showed the two meeting in the lobby of the Palms Casino Resort, then Kendall later leaving alone. Kendall and Garcia reportedly messaged each other after he saw an advertisement for her escort services.
A nurse reportedly noted that Garcia had been “possibly suffocated.” While speaking with investigators, Kendall reportedly “confessed to a strangulation and sexual assault.”
According to court documents cited by KLAS, Kendall allegedly paid Garcia $2,000 for sex, but when she “requested additional payment,” he claims he “snapped.”
The documents allege Kendall hit Garcia in the face, choked her for several minutes, then allegedly sexual assaulted her. Afterward, he allegedly said he “drug her away from the door and left.”
Once he exited the hotel, he called about the overdose.
Court records show Kendall was denied bail.