LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man allegedly confessed to strangling and then sexually assaulting a sex worker inside a hotel room, leading him to turn himself in and face a murder charge, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
Larissa Garcia died on June 21 more than a week after the June 12 incident inside the Palms Casino Resort, documents said. Garcia used the names “Andrea” and “Dallas” in online escort advertisements, sources said.
On Friday afternoon, Jason Kendall, 35, surrendered to police at Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Headquarters where officers booked him on charges of open murder, sexual assault and battery by strangulation to commit sexual assault, documents said. The 8 News Now Investigators first reported Kendall’s arrest Friday evening.
On June 12, Kendall called police saying a woman was overdosing inside a hotel room at the Palms, documents said. Hotel security responded to the room, finding Garcia on the floor with a cut to her jaw. Police did not initially respond as Kendall indicated Garcia had overdosed.
At the hospital, doctors determined there was no alcohol or drugs in Garcia’s blood and that an overdose was not possible. Doctors then suspected Garcia was the victim of a battery, documents said.
Video surveillance from the Palms shows Kendall meeting Garcia in the lobby around 4 p.m., documents said. About an hour later, video shows Kendall leaving the room and the hotel alone with no other person coming to the room or leaving until security arrived. Detectives later located messages between Kendall and Garcia and a web history of Kendall viewing Garcia’s escort advertisement, documents said.
Police later met Kendall at a different hotel where he requested an attorney and declined to provide information. However, police noted Kendall had an injury to his back and shoulder.
On June 18, six days after the incident at the Palms, a nurse who specializes in sexual assault examinations noted Garcia had been strangled and “possibly suffocated,” documents said. Garcia died at the hospital on June 21 after a doctor declared her brain dead.
On Friday, Kendall entered police headquarters to report an assault, documents said. In the report, Kendall “confessed to a strangulation and sexual assault,” documents said. Kendall told police he paid Garcia $2,000 to have sex.
“Jason said Larissa requested additional payment and he ‘snapped,'” documents said. “He hit her in the face and ‘choked’ her for ‘ten minutes’ and ‘then had sex with her.’ After having sex with Larissa, Jason wrote he ‘drug her away from the door and left.’ After leaving the hotel he called the police to report an overdose.”
It was unclear from the documents the 8 News Now Investigators received Monday at what point Kendall knew Garcia was deceased or if he knew at all before his self-surrender.
The Clark County coroner’s office said it did not have any information to provide about Garcia’s death on Monday. The office will not release information in certain circumstances, including if officials cannot find next of kin.
Garcia is the mother of two children and was attending school, friends told 8 News Now.
Kendall is an Army veteran, sources said.
While Metro police issue press releases for every homicide, the department does not usually release ones for delayed deaths. The department released official news of Kendall’s arrest Saturday, a day after the 8 News Now Investigators’ original reporting.
Kendall made his first court appearance Saturday afternoon where a judge ordered him held without bail until his next court appearance, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
Investigator David Charns can be reached at dcharns@8newsnow.com.
