Family of Slain Sex Worker Sues Palms Casino for Failing to Prevent Her 2024 Murder
Posted on: May 14, 2026, 08:38h.
Last updated on: May 14, 2026, 10:39h.
- The family of Larissa Garcia has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Palms Casino Resort and an alleged madam, claiming they failed to prevent her 2024 strangulation and sexual assault
- The lawsuit alleges the Palms facilitated escort activity and ignored audible distress signals, while also accusing agency owner Jodi Mattinson of human trafficking and illegal tip deductions
- Suspect Jason Kendall, who admitted to the killing, was recently declared incompetent to stand trial by a District Court judge, stalling the criminal proceedings as the civil case moves forward
A wrongful death lawsuit filed nearly two years after the violent murder of Larissa Garcia, a 30-year-old Las Vegas sex worker and mother of two, alleges that Palms Casino Resort and an alleged local madam failed to take reasonable steps that could have prevented her death.
Garcia was found unresponsive in a Palms hotel room on June 12, 2024. According to court records and prior reporting by local TV news station 8 News Now, paramedics rushed her to Spring Valley Hospital after a man later identified as Jason Kendall, 36, reported that she had overdosed. Medical staff quickly concluded that was not true.
“Upon further inspection … it looks like she was assaulted,” a hospital nurse told a police dispatcher, according to 8 News Now. “We thought it was an overdose, but she is not responding to Narcan or any of those drugs.”
Doctors found no alcohol or drugs in Garcia’s system and documented evidence of a violent assault and brain injury. Garcia remained in critical condition until she was declared brain dead on June 21, 2024.
Police identified Kendall through hotel records and text messages on Garcia’s phone indicating she was meeting someone named “J” at the Palms. Surveillance footage cited in the lawsuit shows Kendall meeting Garcia in the lobby around 4 p.m., going upstairs with her, and leaving the hotel alone about an hour later. No one else entered the room before security arrived.
According to a written statement summarized in court documents, Kendall told detectives he and Garcia argued over additional payment for sex and that he “snapped.” The lawsuit quotes his account: he “hit her in the face and choked her for 10 minutes and then had sex with her,” then dragged her away from the door and left. He later contacted authorities to claim she had overdosed.
Kendall was charged with open murder, sexual assault, and battery by strangulation. In May 2026, a District Court judge found him incompetent to stand trial.
Claim Against Palms
The Palms is named as a co-defendant in the new civil lawsuit, which seeks damages from the off-Strip resort based on negligent security, premises liability, and failure to render aid.
The complaint, filed on May 1, alleges the Palms “failed to maintain reasonable security measures against prostitution,” “actively facilitated” escort activity by routing calls from known agencies to guest rooms, and ignored Garcia’s “audible screams” and other warning signs — including Kendall leaving the property “bleeding” with visible injuries
Because these allegations relate to the Palms’ operations, policies, and staff conduct, the suit seeks compensatory damages, wrongful‑death damages, and damages for Garcia’s pain and suffering, as well as damages for the emotional and financial harm suffered by her children and family. These damages are tied specifically to the Palms’ alleged premises‑liability failures.
A Palms spokesperson told 8 News Now the resort is “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life” and will respond through the legal process, while emphasizing that guest safety is taken seriously.
Claim Against Madam
The lawsuit also seeks unspecified compensatory and wrongful‑death damages from co‑defendant Jodi Mattinson, who allegedly runs the Bombshell escort agency, along with additional unspecified damages tied to allegedly unlawful deductions from Garcia’s tips.
Garcia worked for the agency, which the complaint alleges engaged in human trafficking and used a two‑step payment model: a “pickup” fee, usually around $400, followed by a “second transaction” in which sex acts were negotiated for more money.
Garcia died during on a “dangerous call” that created a foreseeable risk of violence, the suit alleges. Mattinson knew clients often reacted violently to the “second transaction” and still dispatched Garcia to Kendall.
It also claims she took 50% of the pickup fee and 40% of Garcia’s tips, which the lawsuit argues violates Nevada law prohibiting employers from taking workers’ gratuities.
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