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Coroner: Death was overdose
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Jason Simon Sindelar
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DeMario Reynolds Sr.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
The cause of death for a former UNLV football player who died in June after a fight with a mixed martial arts fighter was a drug overdose, according to the Clark County coroner's office.
Prosecutors are pursuing a murder charge against Jason Simon Sindelar, 25. Las Vegas police said Sindelar beat DeMario Reynolds Sr., 26, after he tried to stop a fight between Sindelar and his girlfriend in a Luxor hotel room.
According to the coroner's office, Reynolds died from combined cocaine, Ecstasy and alcohol intoxication. "Other significant conditions include collapse following a physical altercation," according to the coroner's office.
Reynolds' death was ruled a homicide by the coroner's office.
District Attorney David Roger said because the coroner's office said the physical altercation was a contributing cause of Reynolds' death, prosecutors will move forward with the case against Sindelar.
Last week, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Sindelar charging him with open murder, meaning a jury could convict him of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter.
The complaint alleged Sindelar killed Reynolds by "striking (him) about the head and/or body with fists ... Defendant repeatedly struck and/or wrestled with Reynolds thereby causing the death of Reynolds."
The complaint does not address the drug overdose.
Sindelar was arrested and booked into jail after Reynolds' death. He was released days later when prosecutors did not file a criminal complaint against him in Las Vegas Justice Court. Prosecutors said they were waiting for a completed autopsy report.
Sindelar is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court today . No bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
Reynolds and Sindelar were friends after having met at the Luxor two years ago, Reynolds' family members have said. Both worked promoting clubs inside the Luxor.
According to Sindelar's arrest report, Iman Aubrey, DeMario Reynolds' 43-year-old fiancée and the operator of a website for prospective swingers, told investigators Reynolds was trying to stop a fight between Sindelar and his girlfriend in a hotel room bathroom at 4 a.m. June 19.
Aubrey and other witnesses told police that Sindelar had grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and slapped her, which prompted Reynolds to grab Sindelar and pull him to the floor.
Reynolds told Sindelar he did not want to fight and tried to calm down the professional fighter, witnesses said.
The confrontation between the men continued in the master bedroom, where Sindelar "continuously hit Reynolds in the head and chest," witnesses said.
Sindelar left the suite but quickly returned and began beating Reynolds in the face and chest again, and Reynolds was in a defensive position at that point, witnesses said.
Sindelar left a second time, and security was called. Reynolds was taken to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
During an interview with detectives, Sindelar said Reynolds grabbed him by the throat while he was arguing with his girlfriend.
He told police that no physical altercation had occurred, but he had "several visible injuries" on his body, according to the arrest report.
Reynolds was a 6-foot-tall, 210-pound linebacker who last played for UNLV in 2005, according to the athletic department's website. He also played for Las Vegas High School.
Reynolds graduated from UNLV and was working at a Luxor nightclub.
According to a mixed martial arts website, Sindelar, a Las Vegas resident, had one professional fight in North Dakota in 2008 and four amateur fights.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
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Lets be clear about a few things. The coroners ruled this HOMICIDE, he had drugs in his system but didnt die of an overdose. Thats a fact. This article is false. Also how would the DA be able to move foward with any kind of charges if it was drug overdose. They would have to prove the victim would have died that night no matter what! and to all you rude and no class people this man was a human being and a father of a child. Real mature posting comments the way people do.
No excuse to beat someone in a defense position. Death Penalty or long prison sentence.
43 year old girlfriend my be the underlining problem
WHAT? Please don't waste prison space on a guy who only contributed to the death of someone who did half the job for him. the drugs probably also made him a jackass and were a big reason that there awas a fight. What a waste of resources.
@The.Truth-51- "Other significant conditions include collapse following a physical altercation,"
Ditto for you, genius- see my previous comment below.
Truth.51-Did you read the entire article? It clearly states the death was ruled a homicide after other significant factors contributed to the death, including physical altercation. The article also states he was booked into jail and then released pending the results of the medical examination. Would you like the police and the D.A. to release all people accused of murder every time there may be something else involved? That sounds great. Then we can have a hundred murders walking the streets. And then you bring in the race issue? There is none, the guy who was murdered is black and the guy who killed him is white and they were best friends. I do not get how the race card can be played here. This guy will get convicted of something, even if it is involuntary manslaughter.
This is really sad. I guess the ass beating he took from the mixed martial arts fighter had nothing to do with his death. Another screw up by Metro. This town is so backward sometimes. And lets not even bring up the race issue...
@lv555-
Are your reading comprehension skills courtesy of CCSD and/ or UNLV? "According to the coroner's office, Reynolds died from combined cocaine, Ecstasy and alcohol intoxication." That's according to the Clark County Coroner's office, not the LV R-J Editor's office. His death has been categorized as homicide. Murder is a status that can only be bestowed following due process. This sounds far more like manslaughter at best. Good odds Roger is going ahead with murder charges to get Sindelar (righteous trash though he is) to plead to manslaughter. Unfortunately, with this report in hand, a good lawyer (righteous trash though they are) would probably get an acquittal on either charge.
Sometimes I wonder if readers like Mike.Ault try to come up with the dumbest and rudest things to write as if there was an award for being a jerk.
It will be hard to beat this one Mike so today I award you with the loser of the day award.
Ault, you have no class. The man was murdered and you post something like that. You said a lot more about what kind of loser you are, than you said about the victim. Get a life.