Man accused of killing fellow CCDC inmate admitted to arson hours earlier

A Clark County Detention Center inmate was charged with murder in connection with the killing of another inmate on Sunday — the same day officials said he admitted to starting a house fire in northwest Las Vegas.

Sergio Dominguez, 40, is accused of strangling fellow inmate Jason Dickman, who was in his 40s, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report released Monday. A Las Vegas Fire Department news release Monday evening separately identified Dominguez as the suspect of a Sunday morning arson investigation.

According to the arrest report, Dickman was standing at a urinal in a holding cell at the jail shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday when Dominguez removed his shirt, walked up behind Dickman and began to choke him using his shirt.

Dominguez continued to strangle Dickman after a struggle, according to the report. A few minutes later, a corrections officer looked into the cell and saw Dominguez on top of Dickman.

Medical personnel performed CPR on Dickman, according to the report. He was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The Clark County coroner’s office confirmed Tuesday that Dickman died from strangulation and said his death was ruled a homicide.

Officials took Dominguez into custody and Metro homicide detectives were called to investigate. Surveillance footage captured the killing, according to the report.

Dominguez told detectives that he intended to kill Dickman because Dickman “did something in the next cell” before they were moved into the same cell, according to the report.

“Dominguez said he had no remorse for killing Dickman,” the report states.

Dominguez was re-booked on the murder charge. Court and jail records indicate that he also faces charges of arson, residential burglary and possession or use of a dangerous weapon.

Arson investigation

In the Monday evening news release, the fire department said that Dominguez had been arrested Sunday after he told paramedics he started the morning house fire.

According to the fire department, someone reported around 9:20 a.m. Sunday that a man who lived in a house on the 4200 block of Sawyer Avenue was trying to set it on fire. When crews arrived, they found people attempting to use a garden hose to put out the flames.

Damage from the fire was contained to a bathroom, according to the fire department release. People at the scene told fire crews it had been started by a man who rented a room in the house, later identified as Dominguez, who had left before crews arrived.

Down the street, police later found Dominguez complaining of chest pain, according to the fire department release. He told paramedics that he had started the fire and stayed in the room as it filled with smoke. He was treated for smoke inhalation at University Medical Center, then booked into the Clark County Detention Center on an arson charge hours before the jail killing.

A court hearing in connection with Dominguez’s charges is slated for Wednesday.

It remained unclear why Dickman had been jailed. No other information was immediately available, and police declined to comment Monday evening.

Previous jail killing

In December, another Clark County Detention Center inmate died after being badly beaten by a fellow inmate. The Clark County coroner’s office identified the man as 59-year-old Blancy Yonko, who was awaiting trial on one count of assault with a deadly weapon after police said he chased a man with a knife in February 2020.

Jail records show that 39-year-old Steven Revell was arrested on a murder charge after the attack, in addition to the attempted murder, battery and drug possession charges he was already facing. A court hearing in the case is scheduled for June 4.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter. Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.