Man, 28, charged with open murder in Las Vegas homicide

A 28-year-old man is facing homicide charges after police said an argument between two men last summer left one dead and one arguing it was self-defense, according to a police report.

Jonan Arnaiz-Garrido was arrested and charged with open murder after the death of Thomas Nguyen, 26, on July 24 in a home on the 4200 block of Las Vegas Boulevard North. Arnaiz-Garrido told police Nguyen tried to attack him with a hunting knife at least twice before Arnaiz-Garrido put him in a choke hold, according to a police report from the Metropolitan Police Department.

The victim “got into Arnaiz-Garrido’s face and said you don’t think I’ll do it in a threatening manner, with the large knife in his pants while the two were smoking meth together,” according to the report.

Arnaiz-Garrido told police Nguyen put the hunting knife to Arnaiz-Garrido’s face twice more while claiming that Arnaiz-Garrido stole meth from Nguyen, before Arnaiz-Garrido punched him three times and put him in a choke hold.

Nguyen allegedly told Arnaiz-Garrido “all right bro, you got me, I’m tired,” and began to snore before Arnaiz-Garrido let go.

Officers interviewed several people who knew the victim and said he was frequently using meth with Arnaiz-Garrido and that Nguyen had a behavior of brandishing weapons.

Nguyen’s death was ruled a homicide Aug. 16 by the Clark County Coroner’s office. Arnaiz-Garrido was arrested April 1 and charged with open murder. He remains in custody on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court again April 20.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.