Las Vegas Police Hunt Woman Accused of Killing Victim with Fentanyl

Posted on: March 28, 2025, 01:09h. 

Last updated on: March 28, 2025, 01:09h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Police searching for suspect linked to deadly fentanyl overdose.
  • Victim found dead; suspect stole car and went shopping.
  • Prosecutors say suspect targets casino patrons with fentanyl scheme.

Las Vegas police are looking for a woman accused of giving a man a deadly overdose of the drug fentanyl before leaving him to die in an off-Strip casino.

Cori Lynn Perkins, Ricardo Ortiz, Rio Hotel & Casino
The Rio Hotel & Casino, where Ortiz’s body was discovered on May 1 last year. A warrant is out for the arrest of Cori Lynn Perkins, who is accused of administering the deadly dose of fentanyl so she could rob the victim. (Image: Rio Hotel & Casino)

After the incident at the Rio Hotel & Casino last May, the suspect, Cori Lynn Perkins, whereabouts unknown, emptied the wallet of the victim, Ricardo Ortiz, stole his car, and went shopping, according to a Clark County grand jury indictment.

Ortiz’s body was found stripped naked in a hotel room at the Rio on May 1, 2024. On Thursday, a Clark County District Court judge issued a warrant for Perkins’ arrest.

She has been charged with 15 felony counts. These include second-degree murder while failing to render or seek medical assistance for a person injured or killed by the use of a controlled substance, administration of a drug to aid in the commission of a felony, residential burglary, burglary of a motor vehicle, grand larceny auto, and theft.

Shopping Spree

Ortiz and Perkins were captured on the Rio’s security cameras entering a hotel room on the 18th floor. Perkins left the room alone a short while later.

She was then seen on the video entering a gold Nissan Sentra that belonged to Ortiz’s mother, according to prosecutors.

She subsequently spent more than $2K using Ortiz’s debit card at stores including Smith’s Grocery, Target, Sprouts, Walmart, and Pizza Hut, according to the indictment.

Clark County Deputy District Attorney James Puccinelli said the allegations were “particularly egregious” adding that Perkins was a “danger to the community” who regularly targets individuals at Las Vegas casinos by incapacitating them with fentanyl so that she can rob them.

Death in Venice

Perkins is not the only one to use this particular modus operandi. Earlier this month, the widow of a man who was given a deadly dose of fentanyl by a sex worker at the Venetian Las Vegas sued the casino for failing to protect her husband.

The lawsuit was filed by Jennifer Jacoby whose husband, Jeffrey Jacoby, was robbed and left for dead by Cheylee Kessee, in March 2023.

Her complaint argues that security guards at the Palazzo, the luxury hotel within the Venetian, should have recognized Kessee and her pimp, Kashon Glass, as they had a history of targeting men for robbery.

Initially charged with murder, Kessee ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and robbery and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Glass is serving 50 years after being convicted of the same charges.