Coroner: Death was overdose

The cause of death for a former UNLV football player who died in June after a fight with a mixed martial arts fighter was a drug overdose, according to the Clark County coroner's office.

Prosecutors are pursuing a murder charge against Jason Simon Sindelar, 25. Las Vegas police said Sindelar beat DeMario Reynolds Sr., 26, after he tried to stop a fight between Sindelar and his girlfriend in a Luxor hotel room.

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.

Reynolds' death was ruled a homicide by the coroner's office.

District Attorney David Roger said because the coroner's office said the physical altercation was a contributing cause of Reynolds' death, prosecutors will move forward with the case against Sindelar.

Last week, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Sindelar charging him with open murder, meaning a jury could convict him of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter.

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."

The complaint does not address the drug overdose.

Sindelar was arrested and booked into jail after Reynolds' death. He was released days later when prosecutors did not file a criminal complaint against him in Las Vegas Justice Court. Prosecutors said they were waiting for a completed autopsy report.

Sindelar is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court today . No bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

Reynolds and Sindelar were friends after having met at the Luxor two years ago, Reynolds' family members have said. Both worked promoting clubs inside the Luxor.

According to Sindelar's arrest report, Iman Aubrey, DeMario Reynolds' 43-year-old fiancée and the operator of a website for prospective swingers, told investigators Reynolds was trying to stop a fight between Sindelar and his girlfriend in a hotel room bathroom at
4 a.m. June 19.

Aubrey and other witnesses told police that Sindelar had grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and slapped her, which prompted Reynolds to grab Sindelar and pull him to the floor.

Reynolds told Sindelar he did not want to fight and tried to calm down the professional fighter, witnesses said.

The confrontation between the men continued in the master bedroom, where Sindelar "continuously hit Reynolds in the head and chest," witnesses said.

Sindelar left the suite but quickly returned and began beating Reynolds in the face and chest again, and Reynolds was in a defensive position at that point, witnesses said.

Sindelar left a second time, and security was called. Reynolds was taken to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

During an interview with detectives, Sindelar said Reynolds grabbed him by the throat while he was arguing with his girlfriend.

He told police that no physical altercation had occurred, but he had "several visible injuries" on his body, according to the arrest report.

Reynolds was a 6-foot-tall, 210-pound linebacker who last played for UNLV in 2005, according to the athletic department's website. He also played for Las Vegas High School.

Reynolds graduated from UNLV and was working at a Luxor nightclub.

According to a mixed martial arts website, Sindelar, a Las Vegas resident, had one professional fight in North Dakota in 2008 and four amateur fights.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.