A man has been charged with the murder of a single mother who was found unresponsive in a Las Vegas hotel room after anonymously calling police to report that she had overdosed, authorities said.
On June 28, Jason Kendall, 35, turned himself in to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, where he allegedly confessed to strangling and sexually assaulting Larissa Garcia, 30, police said in an arrest report cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
According to a press release, officers responded to Spring Valley Hospital on June 12 on a report of a woman who was the victim of a possible battery and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Police said she had been found unresponsive in a hotel room along West Flamingo Road. On June 21, she was pronounced dead.
The arrest report states that an anonymous person — later identified as Kendall — called 911 on June 12 to report that a woman was overdosing and that he was no longer with her, according to KSNV. Hotel security found the woman wearing only underwear and with a cut on her jawline, but police were not immediately called to the scene due to the possible overdose.
She was then taken to the hospital by paramedics. There, she had a toxicology screening, which found that she had no drugs or alcohol in her system, according to the report cited by KSNV.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the arrest report claims that police learned the room was registered to Kendall, who had planned to meet with Garcia, a sex worker, at the hotel.
Surveillance footage from the hotel allegedly showed Kendall meeting Garcia in the lobby around 4 p.m. local time on June 12 and leaving a room alone about an hour later, according to court documents also obtained by 8 News Now. Nobody else was seen entering or leaving the room until hotel security arrived.
While he initially declined to talk to police, who questioned him and requested an attorney, the report states police noted Kendall had injuries on his back and shoulder, according to 8 News Now.
On June 28, when Kendall turned himself in to police, he provided a statement saying he paid Garcia $2,000 for sex, per the report cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. However, Kendall claimed he “snapped” when Garcia requested more money. He allegedly admitted to hitting her in the face and “choking” her for “10 minutes,” per the report.
Kendall is being held in the Clark County Detention Center on charges of open murder, sexual assault and battery by strangulation to commit sexual assault, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. It’s unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
According to 8 News Now, loved ones described Garcia as a single mother.
A GoFundMe page set up to help Garcia’s mother with funeral expenses states she had two children.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share this devastating news of the sudden passing of Larissa,” fundraiser organizer Dawn Brown wrote. “At just 30 years old, she was taken from us unexpectedly, leaving a void that can never be filled. She was a bright light in all of our lives, full of love and laughter.”
The fundraiser has raised more than $17,500 in donations as of July 4.
