Murder suspect booked at Clark County jail in man’s July death
Las Vegas police have arrested a 28-year-old murder suspect in connection with a July killing that was initially believed to be a case of self-defense.
Jonan Arnaiz-Garrido was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday after he was arrested in connection with the death of 26-year-old Thomas Nguyen, Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said.
Nguyen’s body was found at about 6:30 p.m. July 24 in an apartment complex on the 4200 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North, near North Nellis Boulevard, police have said.
Spencer said in July that investigators believed the man got into a fistfight with another person the morning of July 24. A family member later found him at the Villa Corona Apartments.
The relative found Nguyen in a bedroom, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, the Clark County coroner’s office has said.
On Thursday, Spencer said the case was submitted to the Clark County district attorney’s office for review, although detectives believed it was a self-defense killing.
Nguyen died of asphyxia and neck compression, with other significant conditions being methamphetamine and phenylpropanolamine drug toxicity, the coroner’s office has said. His death was ruled a homicide.
A recently released Metro arrest report shows that an officer saw Arnaiz-Garrido’s burgundy Range Rover parked on Fremont Street on Wednesday. The officer ran a records check and found that the owner of the vehicle had an outstanding warrant for open murder with a bail amount listed at $1,000,000.
The officer “conducted a vehicle stop on the vehicle by activating his lights and siren” and a man who matched the description of the warrant got out, the report said. He was arrested and booked into the detention center, more than a month after his arrest warrant was issued, according to court records.
Although he was arrested by Metro officers, he has been charged with murder in a North Las Vegas Justice Court case, court records show.
He remained in jail Thursday with a $1 million bail.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
