By Gavin Fish, July 5, 2024
Larissa Garcia, a 30-year-old mother of two and sex worker, was brutally murdered by US Army veteran Jason Kendall in a fit of rage at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Larissa Garcia, 30, was allegedly killed by the US Army veteran after requesting more money to have sex with her. Credit: GoFundMe.
US Army veteran, Jason Kendall, 35, has confessed to the brutal strangulation and sexual assault of Larissa Garcia, a sex worker and mother of two, in a hotel room at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on June 12.
Kendall admitted to the crime at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Headquarters last Friday, stating that he “snapped” when Garcia, 30, requested additional payment after he had already paid her $2,000 for sex. According to court documents, Kendall hit Garcia in the face, choked her for ten minutes, and then had sex with her while she was incoherent and severely injured.
After the assault, Kendall moved Garcia’s body away from the room door, left the hotel, and reported the incident as an overdose. Surveillance footage captured him leaving the hotel alone approximately an hour after the attack, with no one else entering or leaving the room until help arrived, court documents say.
Hotel security discovered Garcia on the floor with a cut to her jaw, and she was subsequently rushed to Spring Valley Hospital by paramedics. Initially suspecting an overdose, doctors found no drugs or alcohol in her system and suspected battery due to her extensive injuries. A nurse specializing in sexual assault later noted signs of strangulation and possible suffocation.
Garcia was declared brain dead on June 21, more than a week after the assault. The Clark County Coroner’s Office has yet to release information about her death or provide a timeline for the autopsy report.
Homicide detectives linked Kendall to the crime through his hotel reservation and messages exchanged with Garcia. They also found internet search history showing Kendall viewing her online advertisement. He was arrested after turning himself in and is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail on charges of open murder, sexual assault, and battery by strangulation to commit sexual assault.
If the murder charge is upgraded to first-degree, Kendall could face life in prison or the death penalty.
Kendall’s military background remains undisclosed. Garcia, described by a friend as a “bright light full of love and laughter,” leaves behind two young children. A GoFundMe page has been set up to cover her funeral expenses.
