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By Tiffany Gibson, Jackie Valley (contact) 
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010 | 12:12 p.m.
Jason Sindelar
DeMario Reynolds
Sun Archives
Former UNLV football player DeMario Reynolds, who died in June during an altercation with a mixed martial arts fighter, had ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol in his system at the time of his death and died of a drug overdose, according to the Clark County Coroner's Office.
A coroner's report also concluded a "physical alteration" contributed to Reynolds' June 19 death. The coroner ruled the death a homicide.
Metro Police said Reynolds got into a fight with Jason Sindelar, a mixed martial arts fighter, in a Luxor suite on the Las Vegas Strip. Sindelar allegedly punched Reynolds in the face and chest. Police said the two were friends.
Police arrested Sindelar in June in connection with murder in Reynolds' death.
According to the arrest report, Sindelar and his girlfriend got into a verbal confrontation during a party at the suite, and Reynolds asked Sindelar to leave because of the disturbance.
Witnesses told police that Sindelar was intoxicated and belligerent. He tried to grab his girlfriend by the throat and slapped her during the confrontation, the report said.
Reynolds tried to calm Sindelar by holding him in a bear hug on the bathroom floor and saying he “didn’t want to fight with him; he loved him,” one witness told police.
Reynolds let go of him and went into the main bedroom, where Sindelar followed and a brief struggle ensued between the two. Punches were thrown but the fight was broken up, police said.
Sindelar then left and Reynolds took a seat on the couch. Witnesses said Reynolds was sweating and out of breath.
Shortly after the altercation, Sindelar came back into the suite and began hitting Reynolds in the chest, the report said. The mixed martial arts fighter pulled Reynolds onto the floor and continued to hit him, authorities said.
The fight was broken up again and security was called after Reynolds became unresponsive, police said.
Reynolds was a 2006 graduate of UNLV and had worked at the Cathouse nightclub inside the Luxor.
Sindelar told officers that Reynolds had provoked him by grabbing him by the throat and pulling him out of the room. He said he came back to the room to argue with Reynolds but did not fight with him again.
Police said Sindelar was the primary aggressor because witness statements indicated he came back to the room for a second fight and continued to hit Reynolds after the former football player took a defensive position.
One of the most iconic resorts on The Strip, the Luxor pyramid invites curiosity while the resort’s interior rewards visitors with equal parts excitement, mystery and intrigue.
This 4,405-room resort features a wide variety of entertainment including world-famous dance crew Jabbawockeez (spring 2013), the Cirque du Soleil production CRISS ANGEL Believe, the provocative adult revue, FANTASY, the hilarious comedy of Carrot Top, Menopause The Musical and the exclusive LAX Nightclub.
The property also offers a spa and salon, wedding chapel and inviting pool complex and is connected to Mandalay Bay through The Shoppes at Mandalay Place — a collection of unique boutiques and restaurants.
With a 120,000-square-foot gaming area, delectable restaurants and top-notch nightlife and entertainment, Luxor provides an unparalleled travel destination.
Well ladies, nice job of smearing the victim. By the way, last week prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Sindelar charging him with open murder. The complaint alleged Sindelar killed Reynolds by "striking (him) about the head and/or body with fists ... Defendant repeatedly struck and/or wrestled with Reynolds thereby causing the death of Reynolds."
Why did you leave that part out of your smear job? How do you think the family of the victim feels when not only do they lose a loved one, but then they see a headline like that?
Coroner says death was because of an drug overdose=SUICIDE!
FRM - learn to read. The death was ruled a homicide.
After reading the coroner's report, I'm guessing whomever supplied the drug's is being charged? If we're going to be fair and just in this, they would be responsible as well. This is not a smear on the victim, it's a scientific fact that cannot be disputed that he had this combination of drugs in his system.
As far as I can see it, we have two guys, who used to be friends, a martial-arts fighter and a footbal player, they were both using drugs, one of them was boozed-up, one of them was coked-up.
During the fights the football player tried to calm down his friend and keep the situation under control, he tried to block his buddy, meanwhile the martial-arts fighter still tried to hit his former friend and to off him, as if both of them were doing real martial-arts fighting for points/real hits at the opponent's head/body.
The martial-arts fighter knew what he was doing having trained his mind/body to become a deadly weapon, that he was using against a friendly football player, who was trying to calm the situation and to calm down his friend.
The martial-arts fighter should be treated by the court, as if he had used a gun as a deadly weapon, since he committed manslaughter, while knowing about his trained skills to kill somebody. Believe me, I know what I am talking about.
After the footbal player '(Reynolds) became unresponsive' on the floor, of course, the drugs he had taken hours before, have done the rest to off the guy. But drugs he usually would not have died of, could only kill him, because the martial-arts fighter had knocked off the football player before, so he became unresponsive.
The "MMA" fighter is some amatuer who had 3 local fights in 2007. I'm just as much an MMA fighter as he is. Don't think he's a trained athlete or a deadly weapon. He's just a punk who deserves a shot to the head.
Why didn't Metro say he made some furtive movements when they arrested this fool?
Chuck-Norris, manslaughter = killing someone without intent (mens rea). Murder in the first degree requires intent. Murder in the second degree requires less intent or premeditation.
This guy could be charged with murder easily, but will probably get manslaughter saying, "I didn't mean to kill him, just beat him up!"
He'll still go to prison for 7-15 years...
This guy beat his FRIEND to death because somebody was talking to his girlfriend. When you go to swinger parties you can rest assured that you will NEVER be forced into doing something you do not want to do. If you want to be a vouyer and just watch, that is acceptable. This insecure piece of crap was thinking he was going to go there and score off of other people wives and girlfriends and that his girlfriend was not going to get touched. All that happened was some guy (not even the guy who he beat to death) was TALKING to his girlfriend, he flips out, as if the girl is his property and has no mind of her own, typical of these type of big strong little dick athletic types. I hope he gets his junk cut off and stuffed into his mouth on his way to the electric chair. BTW I was at this event, and saw these events first hand.
The coroner's ruling doesn't make sense. Let's for example let's say someone is drinking and walking along the edge of the roof, and another person shoves them. No one would say the person lost their balance because the push was a contributing factor along with the drinking. The man that died was 26 and healthy. He was not teetering on the edge of death because of over dosing before the attack, and did not go into medical distress before he was punched repeatedly in the chest.
I am wondering if the lifestyle of the person who was attacked and killed had a 'contributing effect' to the coroner's findings? After reading about his report here, and the low bail it looks like it is possible the attacker might spend very little time in prison for his actions. Something to think about folks when you are out at a bar and glance over at his girlfriend, and that roided pitbull starts raining punches down on you. It's likely you'll have had a few beers, will the coroner's report say they were a contributing factor in your demise?
Comment removed by moderator. language.
@ AZTD ... Very well said, I agree the drug supplier should be tried and maybe they would be if it were known. It almost seems as if people dont want to,or are not going to accept the facts of the case. The coroners results as to the drugs being lethal, are most likely backed by studys that confirm he overdosed.Im not sure what evidence there is to conclude that he "beat" his friend to death, but you would think if he did, the initial autopsy would have concluded that back in june when he was first arrested and then released. Im sure if the victim looked like he got "beat to death" it would have been enough probable cause to hold him on...
@lv55 "The complaint alleged Sindelar killed Reynolds by "striking (him) about the head and/or body with fists ... Defendant repeatedly struck and/or wrestled with Reynolds thereby causing the death of Reynolds."....New reports say the charge was amended to 2nd degree and involuntary manslaughter. Im guessing because there wasnt a strike or repeated blow to any area on the body that could prove lethal.
There is more to this story than just drugs, and Ivanon's facts, reasoning, and conclusions are in error. The story said, "A coroner's report also concluded a "physical alteration" contributed to Reynolds' June 19 death. The coroner ruled the death a homicide."
Drugs contributed to the likelihood Reynolds would have been killed in the altercation, but under the law they were not the cause. The cause of death was Sindelar's repeated aggressive beatings. For example let's say the person who died was vulnerable not because they had taken drugs but because they were 70 years old and had a heart condition. Having experience in the medical field, and having seen these things in the past I can tell you the coroner's report is going to read that the 70 year old's heart condition was a contributing factor in his death. And any reasonable person on a jury would understand the cause of death was the assualt not the heart condition.
Further it doesn't matter if someone as Ivanon said 'looks like they were beaten to death' because even healthy people can go into cardiac arrest from a single blow to the chest above the heart. Lastly don't infer too much by the way the charges have been filed. Again from experience I can tell you that it is practice to file the charges as broadly as possible because under our criminal justice system plea barging is common, and most prosecutors would rather convict quickly under a lesser charge than tie themselves up and take even a small chance the jury might be irrational and not convict.
"The cause of death was Sindelar's repeated aggressive beatings."
"The story said, "A coroner's report also concluded a "physical alteration" contributed to Reynolds' June 19 death"
The cause of death was reported by the coroner as an overdose. In this report it concludes the physical altercation contributed to the death. In other reports It say the coroners words were "conditions include collapse after physical altercation." Insinuating that the man simply collapsed sometime after he got in a altercation. It doesnt say as a result of as it does to the drugs. Details are everything.
Ivanon you are ignoring some of the facts, misrepresenting other facts, and in your own words drawing insinuations to fill in the facts you don't know.
"The coroner ruled the death a homicide."
You haven't explained why the coroner ruled this as a homicide if it was simply about a drug overdose. It was ruled a HOMICIDE for exactly the reasons I outlined when an assault is a contributing factor.
Skewing this by insinuating Reynolds was moments away from death simply because of an overdose is beyond a stretch because we know that Reynolds had survived one altercation with Sindelar's until Sindelar returned again later to beat him repeatedly, and beat him and savagely even after Reynolds had taken a defensive position. I think most reasonable people would agree that Sindelar clearly has culpability in what happened.
-"It was ruled a HOMICIDE for exactly the reasons I outlined when an assault is a contributing factor."
Correct, the incident was ruled a homicide like you said, as to reason you outlined its speculation to what people said.What the coroner said is not speculation.
-"According to the coroner's office, Reynolds died from combined cocaine, Ecstasy and alcohol intoxication. "Other significant conditions include collapse following a physical altercation," according to the coroner's office"- LVRJ
Significant conditions does not include a fatal wound from the fight. It only concludes he collapsed after an altercation. My insinuations your right about. I dont know how long after he collapsed or that he was moments away from death. All there is to go off is a coroner giving his word that the drugs in his system was a lethal amount, I havent read anywhere that gives that time frame of the collapse.
Whats hard to understand is following the initial arrest in June the the suspect was released because there wasnt enough probable cause to hold him for the murder, I.E. if he had shot the man and people seen it there would be a fatal bullet hole wound and witnesses to say he pulled the trigger;the probable cause. In this case they have witnesses to say he pulled the trigger but no fatal bullet holes to conclude their statements. As to the toxicology, it added nothing to prove that his bullet hit the guy and killed him even if it wizzed by him.
-"Sindelar returned again later to beat him repeatedly, and beat him and savagely even after Reynolds had taken a defensive position. I think most reasonable people would agree that Sindelar clearly has culpability in what happened."
Your right if he beat him "repeatedly" and "savagely" most people would believe he had culpability in what happened, but most people would believe if he was beaten like that, he would have never been released from custody as injuries would have been enough probable cause to hold him on. The only thing the DA has to go on is saying he collapsed after an altercation. As to what caused him to collapse I havent read anything about.
I can't speak to your questions about Sindelar's previous release. Perhaps he was released after posting bail? What I do know from reading in an August 14th story here is that Sindelar was recently charged by prosecutors in Las Vegas with second-degree murder. We can conclude the prosecutors feel with the facts they have at hand, including the coroner's report, they have sufficient evidence to take Sindelar to trial on murder charges.
Further we don't have to speculate about what the witnesses said because we can read the arrest report using a link provided in the Aug. 14th story.
The report also answers your question about how quickly Reynolds collapsed after the attack because one of the eye witnesses has gone on record with their account of the incident. Here is the summary paragraph from the arrest report:
"Due to the fact that the witness statement said Sindelar was the primary aggressor and the fact that Reynolds was not fighting back and Sindelar came back to the suite and further attacked Reynolds, striking Reynolds repeatedly in the chest, and that Reynolds became unresponsive after the second attack and dies a short time later, detectives placed Sindelar under arrest for murder..."
After reading the arrest report I think most would agree that according to the witness accounts the beating was savage enough to reasonably assume that it did play a role in Reynolds's death.
-"Roger explains that, unlike a gunshot or stabbing, a beating case doesn't always offer an obvious cause of death. One potential question is did Reynolds have an underlying medical issue that could have played a role?" -my news 3 6/24/2010
-"But during a court appearance Wednesday the judge ordered him released from custody." my news 3 6/24/2010
We can take from Rogers statement that the beating wasnt obvious as explained in his statement. Therefore probable cause at the time wasnt sufficient enough to hold him on and the judge ordered his release. I think it would be agreeable that if someone actually "savagely" beat someone "repeatedly" there would be enough probable cause to hold them on.
-"Further we don't have to speculate about what the witnesses said because we can read the arrest report using a link provided in the Aug. 14th story."
The summary of the arrest report is speculation because someone is summarizing what they believe happend based on what people said and actually happend.
-(sindelar and kemp left the suite and reynolds went into the living room and laid on the couch.Denis-jordan was sitting on the couch next to reynolds. Denis-jordan said "she went to get reynolds a drink of water and when she came back, reynolds was unresponsive." Denise-jordan said "she never saw sindelar comeback into the room.")
Iman Aubrey says (not quoted) says he comes back to the room and pulls him off the couch and beats him.Another witness in the report says Kemp and sindelar exited the suite but came right back in. Denis jordan is on the couch with reynolds and she sees kemp and sindelar exit and never return.
As to the collapse it does insue it was not long after the altercation,correct. Cant argue that, only wether there was any second altercation can and how long he was on the couch with denis-jordan. Is there other witnesses I wonder ? It says it was a party. Six people total in the room,(according to arrest report) doesnt sound like much of a party.
-"After reading the arrest report I think most would agree that according to the witness accounts the beating was savage enough to reasonably assume that it did play a role in Reynolds's death."
Some people may agree and some people may not. As we both have different views as outsiders. What we do have to remember is the witnesses statements in the arrest report didnt prove to be probable cause to charge him initialy with the crime, the body as rogers said "didnt offer an obvious cause of death". The probable cause now is the drugs in his system ? Not sure how that makes his body offer anymore obvious signs to a beating happening and that being the cause of it. The coroner clearly states he died from a combination of drugs. Not from injurys recieved from an altercation. Either way burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt, and there is defiantly a reasonable doubt that He did not die from a beating.
Ivanon you are way way off base here. Were you there at the suite??? I was, and what I saw was a savage attack not once but twice. If Renyolds doesn't attacked that night he would have eventually passed out and woke up the next day. The only drugs that were a factor in this case was the steroids that Sindelar had taken to get bulked up the way he did. Those drugs turned Sindelar into a savage pitbull capable of attacking and killing a man with his bare hands. Sindelar is guilty of murder and the bottom line is that because this happened at a swinger/lifestyle event Sindelar is catching a break, he should be sentanced to lethal injection, Sindelar is a human piece of scum and should be put down like the dog he is.
Ivanon everytime you chime in here and attempt to defend that scum bag Sindelar you make yourself look ignorant. Wake up, Sindelar went to this event eyes wide open, the moment someone is talking to his girl he flips out...He is guilty of murder and should have his junk cut off and stuffed into his mouth on his way to the electric chair.
Ivanon after reading what you wrote I'm going to repeat something I said earlier: you are ignoring some of the facts, and misrepresenting other facts.
With regard to the police officer who filed the arrest report you say, "The summary of the arrest report is speculation because someone (the police officer) is summarizing what they believe happened based on what people (the witness) said and actually happened." That is ludicrous and a shows the lengths you are willing to go to in order to misrepresent the facts, and muddy the waters.
Further you took part of Denis-Jordan's statement out of context. Denis-Jordan also said, "...she never saw Sindelar come back into the room but said he possibly did while she was getting water for Reynolds."
It is obvious you are not interested anyway in a search for the truth, and past this post I'm not going to waste my time discussing this with you anymore. It's clear to me that for some reason you are being intellectually dishonest, and not discussing this in good faith.
@ myronfrye...for clarification, "I was, and what I saw" you refered to if you look refers to the debate going on to what people said. If it wasnt quoted properly to what i was saying people saw it should have been. As to the rest of what you said, its hard to debate with someones feelings. So I wont attempt to touch on that.
@amainstreamguy....
-"you are ignoring some of the facts, and misrepresenting other facts."
If i did it wasnt on purpose, or to make you think anything different from what you know.
-"you took part of Denis-Jordan's statement out of context. Denis-Jordan also said, "...she never saw Sindelar come back into the room but said he possibly did while she was getting water for Reynolds."
I was stating she never saw them return. Which is true according to her statement. She did say "he possibly did while she was getting water for Reynolds." With saying that its only speculation of what someone did even if Denise-jordan was there she didnt see him come in.
Not trying to muddy waters or mispeculate anything. What people think is opinion and to the summary of what the arrest report said, it wasnt obviously not enough probable cause to hold him on a charge from the get go.You brought up some good points. The situation is very tragic and I hope all involved find their peace with it.