Bail at $100K for Henderson man with ties to overdose deaths

A judge set bail at $100,000 on Wednesday for a man with ties to a pair of drug overdose deaths in the Las Vegas Valley.

Jayden Hughes, 20, faces a charge of second-degree murder, along with drug charges, in connection with the death of his girlfriend early last year.

Authorities also have linked him to the overdose of an 18-year-old man who died about a week later.

The woman died on March 28 in a Las Vegas Valley apartment from fentanyl and MDMA intoxication, according to police. Two days earlier, the man overdosed on cocaine, opiates and marijuana. He died at a hospital on April 5.

According to Hughes’ arrest report, the murder charge stems from his girlfriend’s death. Police said in pursuing the charge that Hughes provided pills that killed the woman, then waited for hours to call authorities to report her death.

In court on Wednesday, prosecutors asked for a $500,000 bail and argued that Hughes was a flight risk and a danger to the community who also had sold drugs to an undercover police officer.

In separate cases, Hughes faces charges of DUI and drug possession. The murder charge was not filed until last month, according to court records.

Deputy Public Defender Amy Coffee told Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Pro Tem William Jansen that Hughes lived with his mother and has cooperated with authorities.

After the 18-year-old died, police found evidence in his phone that showed he bought cocaine and Roxicodone pills from Hughes two days before his overdose.

“(The man) and Hughes had a conversation on their Snapchat accounts to each other on March 25, 2020, about how good the product was that Hughes sold (the man),” police wrote. “(The man) overdosed one day later.”

After Hughes’ girlfriend overdosed, he called police to report that he had found her unconscious. A Clark County coroner’s office investigator found “a copious amount of marijuana and illicit narcotic paraphernalia around the apartment,” police said.

Police also reported that Hughes openly posted on social media about the “use and sales of illegal controlled substances.”

In June, police said, undercover detectives contacted Hughes and purchased four grams of cocaine. In July, according to police, Hughes posted more photos on social media about using and selling MDMA, marijuana, LSD and cocaine.

Later that month, an undercover officer purchased 3.9 more grams of cocaine from Hughes.

Inside Hughes’ Henderson apartment, police found cocaine, etizolam, flualprazolam, flubromazolam, and methamphetamine.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.