Grand jury indicts woman for Las Vegas manicurist's death
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a 21-year-old woman on charges of murder, robbery and other crimes after she was accused of skipping out on a $35 manicure and running over a salon worker with her car.
Timothy Treffinger, an attorney for Krystal Whipple, did not immediately respond to an emailed message seeking comment Monday on the indictment. The indictment, filed in Nevada court on Friday, charges Whipple four felonies in the death of Ngoc Q. Nguyen, 51, of Garden Grove, California.
Police say Whipple tried to pay for her Dec. 29, 2018, manicure with a fraudulent credit card before telling Nguyen that she was going to her car to get cash, then drove away. Nguyen tried to stop the car but was run over and killed.
Whipple has been held without bail at the Clark County jail in Las Vegas since Jan. 18 following her arrest Friday Jan. 11 in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. She is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on July 16.
The case sparked intense national interest after police released an internet plea for help identifying Whipple and showing parking lot security video of a woman leaving the nail salon.
Police say Whipple tried to pay for her manicure with a fraudulent credit card, told Nguyen that she was going to her car to get cash, and then drove away.
Nguyen went to the front of the car and a man who police identified as Nguyen's husband was seen in the security footage holding onto the vehicle from behind as the car accelerated out of a Las Vegas shopping center parking lot.
Police say the car was a rental that had been stolen. It was later found abandoned at an apartment complex.
Whipple has a criminal record in Las Vegas including a conviction in 2017 for attempted possession of a stolen vehicle. Clark County District Court records said she was sentenced to four months in jail for violating probation in that case.
