Strip casino sued
The widow of a Colorado man robbed and given a fatal dose of fentanyl by a sex worker and her pimp is suing Venetian Casino Resort LLC for alleged security failures.
On Monday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal revealed Jennifer Jacoby last month filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Venetian after Jeffrey Jacoby, 55, was killed in a Palazzo hotel room in March 2023.
According to court documents, Jennifer’s lawsuit essentially alleges Palazzo security could have prevented her late husband’s death.
Alleged failure to act
According to the LVR-J, Jeffrey met Cheylee Kessee at a Palazzo bar on March 1.
After meeting up with her pimp Kashon Glass, the two convicted felons browsed the casino floor with the victim before accompanying him to a cashier’s cage area, where Jeffrey withdrew $1,000.
found Jeffrey’s fentanyl-overdosed body on the bathroom floor
Kessee later went back to Jeffrey’s hotel room, but left less than ten minutes later. A Palazzo worker making a welfare call on behalf of a worried Jennifer several hours later found Jeffrey’s fentanyl-overdosed body on the bathroom floor.
The complaint, which asks for a jury trial, centers on alleged security-related failures against Venetian, which is owned by Vici Properties and operated by Apollo Global Management.
The widow’s lawsuit alleges Palazzo security guards “should have alerted Jacoby that he was being followed by Glass.”
Jennifer’s suit also alleges the Palazzo should have been able to ID the pimp and sex worker because of their history of “targeting hotel guests to rob and victimize them.”
Danger to guests
Glass and Kessee later pleaded guilty to charges including voluntary manslaughter, and robbery with use of a deadly weapon.
Given Kessee and Glass’s history of robbing guests, they fit what a UNLV Boyd School of Law professor referred to as “known dangers.”
you have an obligation to make sure the place is safe”
Professor Ben Edwards believes this makes Jennifer’s lawsuit one of interest. “Anytime you invite somebody onto your property, you have an obligation to make sure the place is safe,” he said.
“The kinds of dangers you have to protect against are really dangers you know about.”
Edwards added the court will now decide whether it was unreasonable for the Palazzo “to not monitor, or not communicate, for this sort of thing.”