Las Vegas woman, 21, who allegedly ran over and killed manicurist to avoid paying $35 bill charged with murder
A woman who was arrested for running over and killing a nail salon worker because she did not want to pay a $35 bill has been indicted on multiple charges, including murder and burglary.
Krystal Whipple, 21, was arrested in January over the December 29 death of 51-year-old Nhu Ngoc Nguyen, a manager at the Crystal Nails & Spa, at 4983 W. Flamingo Road, near South Decatur Boulevard, Las Vegas.
MEAWW previously reported that the incident stemmed from Whipple's inability to pay a bill she had racked up at the salon.
Lt. Ray Spencer of the Las Vegas Police Department said that the 21-year-old had first tried to pay for her $35 manicure with a credit card that was declined three or four times. The woman then claimed she was going to get money from her car before she attempted to flee without paying, he added.
At this point, Nguyen tried to stop her from leaving and put herself in front of the car, but was run over and dragged for 50 feet.
Her husband Sonny Chung, who used to assist her in running the nail salon, said his wife had desperately tried to hold on to the frame of the rear windshield, near the trunk, to little avail.
Nguyen, a mother-of-three, was rushed to the University Medical Center for treatment but would not survive her injuries. The Clark County coroner’s office ruled Nguyen’s death a homicide caused by multiple blunt force injuries.
Authorities tracked down Whipple's rental car—a black, newer-model Chevrolet Camaro—on the same night and found that the vehicle had been reported stolen three weeks prior to the incident.
On Jan 3, they identified Whipple as the suspect through fingerprints and receipts they found in the car, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. On Jan 11, she was arrested by the Phoenix FBI in Glendale, Arizona, and then extradited to Las Vegas.
This past week, a jury indicted Whipple on four felony charges—one count of murder with a deadly weapon, and one count each of burglary, robbery with a deadly weapon, and possession of a stolen vehicle.
She has a prior criminal in Las Vegas and was convicted in 2017 for attempted possession of a stolen vehicle. She was sentenced to four months in jail for violating probation in the case.
Whipple is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail and is expected to be arraigned on her most recent charges on July 16.