Couple accused of giving robbery victim fatal fentanyl dose

A couple suspected in a string of robberies has been indicted on first-degree murder charges after prosecutors said they gave a man a fatal dose of fentanyl in order to rob him.

Cheylee Kessee, 23, and Kashon Glass, 37, were indicted Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery, grand larceny, residential burglary, administering a drug to aid in a felony, four counts of conspiracy, and drug possession. Glass faces two additional drug possession charges and a weapons charge, according to court records.

The two are accused of giving Jeffrey Jacoby a lethal dose of fentanyl on March 1, court records show.

Kessee was operating as a sex worker at The Venetian and Palazzo when she met Jacoby at a bar earlier this year, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Schwartzer said during an indictment-return hearing on Wednesday. He said that Jacoby was in town for a convention when he met Kessee, and that she went with him to his hotel room.

Schwartzer said surveillance footage showed Glass watching the interaction and acting as a “pimp” for Kessee. In text messages between the two, Glass asked Kessee why she was taking so long in Jacoby’s hotel room.

“She tells Mr. Glass to chill and that she’s having him smoke right now,” Schwartzer said.

Kessee is accused of taking Jacoby’s phone, wallet and $1,000 from the room while he died of a fentanyl overdose, he said.

A few days later, Kessee was arrested in a “trick-roll sting” set up by Metropolitan Police Department vice detectives. She was arrested while in possession of fentanyl, and texts between her and Glass show they were planning another robbery, Schwartzer told the judge during Wednesday’s court hearing. Glass was also arrested while in possession of fentanyl and a firearm.

District Judge Jerry Wiese ordered both to be held on $1 million bail.

Court records show that Kessee and Glass were both charged in March with administering a drug to aid in a felony, grand larceny, theft, residential burglary, drug possession and conspiracy charges, but the case was dropped in Las Vegas Justice Court.

“We decided to further pursue the investigation before going forward with the case,” Schwartzer said in a phone interview on Friday.

Both Kessee and Glass face charges of first and second-degree murder in connection with Jacoby’s death. The first-degree murder charge would require a jury to find there was premeditation or that the killing happened during the commission of another felony, while the second-degree murder charge is what defendants typically face in connection with fentanyl deaths.

On Friday, Schwartzer said the defendants cannot be adjudicated for both murder charges, and that the charges are acting as “alternative counts.”

The Clark County district attorney’s office has charged a handful of defendants with murder in connection with fatal overdose deaths in recent years, although none of the defendants have gone to trial or been convicted of a murder charge.

Schwartzer said this is the first case he’s aware of where the defendants are accused of using fentanyl to commit a robbery.

The two have also been linked to multiple robberies in the past year. Court records show they also face charges in connection with a February armed kidnapping and robbery.

Months after Jacoby’s death, Kessee and Glass were also accused of robbing Sam Aldabbagh, the longtime owner of the now closed Diamond Inn Motel, at 160 Las Vegas Boulevard North. Aldabbagh testified to a grand jury that his driver took him to the hotel on Aug. 15, when two people took his briefcase with more than $2,000 in cash.

The driver testified that the two robbers had been sitting outside the motel wearing masks, and that one had a firearm when they took the briefcase from him, according to transcripts from a grand jury hearing.

Glass and Kessee were arrested on Aug. 17 in connection with the robbery at the Diamond Inn, following an hours-long barricade at the Howard Johnson hotel, at 165 E. Tropicana Ave.

The two are also connected to a January robbery at the Diamond Inn, when Kessee was accused of taking a man back to the motel for Glass to rob at gunpoint. Glass and Kessee face charges including robbery, kidnapping, conspiracy and ownership of a weapon by a prohibited person in connection with the alleged robberies at the Diamond Inn, and a jury trial in the case is currently scheduled to start Dec. 11.

Defense attorney Andrew Flahive, who represents Kessee, declined to comment on the cases. Glass’ attorney, Roger Bailey, did not respond to a request for comment.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.