Woman to plead guilty in nail salon manager’s death
A woman accused of driving over and killing a Las Vegas nail salon manager has agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder.
After negotiating a deal with prosecutors for a prison sentence of 10 to 25 years, Krystal Whipple, 23, is expected to enter a plea Friday, according to online court records logged this week.
Whipple had initially faced burglary, robbery and stolen vehicle charges in connection with the December 2018 death of Nhu “Annie” Ngoc Nguyen.
Nguyen, a manager at Crystal Nails & Spa, 4983 W. Flamingo Road, was struck by a stolen rental car and dragged about 50 feet outside the salon. Prosecutors said Whipple fled to Boulder City then Los Angeles with fake identification before driving to Arizona, and planned to travel as far as North Carolina before her arrest in January 2019.
Nguyen, a mother of three, was killed after Whipple allegedly tried to pay for a $35 manicure with a credit card that was declined multiple times. The woman went outside, saying she was retrieving money, and attempted to leave.
The manager and her boyfriend followed Whipple outside to stop her, authorities said, but the woman got behind the wheel of a stolen black Camaro and struck Nguyen, dragging the 51-year-old across the parking lot.
A lawyer for Whipple could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
