LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas man faces a murder charge after police said he stabbed another man to death at an apartment in the central valley on Saturday.
Christian Bryant, 39, faces one charge of open murder with a deadly weapon, police said.
Around 3:50 p.m., on Saturday, Metro police responded to a 911 call from a woman inside an apartment that a man had been stabbed in the 2400 block of Clifford Avenue near Charleston Boulevard and Fremont Street.
When officers arrived, they said they found a man suffering from “numerous sharp force injuries,” apparent stab wounds to the chest, back, neck, and a head injury. Officers then rendered aid until medical personnel arrived. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The Clark County coroner’s office later identified the person stabbed and killed as Kyle Hughes, 54. His cause of death was listed as multiple stab wounds, with the manner being homicide.
Detectives later learned that Hughes and the suspect, identified as Bryant, were arguing before the stabbing.
A female friend of Hughes told police that he had been stabbed by Bryant “out of self-defense after he was attacked with a knife,” according to the police report.
Bryant left the scene before officers arrived, according to Metro police.
Later on that day, officers spotted a man walking toward the scene of the crime and asked him to identify himself, to which the man responded, “John Wayne.” The officer believed the man to be Bryant and detained him. Police also searched two backpacks in his possession, which revealed a wallet with a California identification card in the name of Christian Bryant, along with a cell phone. After the search, Bryant was not immediately questioned, according to the police report.
Police investigating the crime scene stated that the apartment smelled heavily of bleach. Hughes’ body was found in the living room/kitchen with apparent bleach and blood stains on his clothing and on his bare chest, according to the police report.
There was also a red towel found near Hughes’ head with apparent blood and bleach stains. A bloody handprint was also located on a wall in the home, close to the floor. A kitchen knife was also located under a recliner with apparent blood and bleach on the blade and handle. Another knife, identified as a black handled knife, was also found under another recliner with blood, according to police.
Police obtained surveillance video showing Hughes and Bryant walking together on Clifford Avenue earlier that day. Two hours later, another video angle shows Bryant exiting the apartment around 3:33 p.m. with a backpack and carrying an “unknown large item” down the stairwell, according to the report.
A female was also seen on surveillance video leaving the apartment two minutes after Bryant, and then returning to the apartment seven minutes later, according to the police report.
Later that night, during the police interview with Bryant, the police report stated that there was a power outage at the LVMPD headquarters, which caused the video portion of the interview to fail. Therefore, there was only an audio version of the interview available. At the time of the police interview, Bryant was intoxicated, according to the report. He also told officers he had only been living in Las Vegas for a month and a half.
When Bryant was questioned by officers in the interview, Bryant stated that he was “tired of working two jobs” and that he was intoxicated. The officer then told Byrant that the conversation they were about to have would be the most important conversation he would ever have, to which Bryant responded, “probably not” and laughed. Bryant went on to state that he had been in trouble numerous times in his life, according to the police report.
When detectives asked Bryant if he stabbed someone, he sarcastically asked the question in return while laughing, “Did I stab somebody?” When detectives informed him that they believed he stabbed someone, he responded to the police and said, “She did?” That’s what’s up then… she’s your witness, not mind.” Bryant then continued to laugh and asked detectives if he was going to jail or not because he just wanted to go to sleep.
When detectives informed Bryant that there was a deceased man inside his apartment, he claimed he had no knowledge of that and asked, “Did I do something or not? Am I in trouble or not?” Bryant then stated he did not “give a [expletive]” about being in trouble and broke out in more laughter, saying, “It is what it is,” according to the police report.
Detectives later noted that based on Bryant’s demeanor and answers, they did not believe he was taking the interview seriously, according to the report. Detectives then conducted a second interview with Bryant later that night. Detectives told him he would be arrested for open murder with a deadly weapon, and that is when Bryant became visibly upset, began to cry, and requested to speak with detectives again, according to the report.
During the second interview with detectives, Bryant told them he “did not murder that man,” and that he was alive when he left, according to the report. Bryant then told police that Hughes stabbed him over Bryant making fun of him. He stated that Hughes couldn’t take any “jokes,” and Hughes then tried to stab him, according to the report.
According to Bryant, he attempted to take the knife away from Hughes, which caused injuries to his hands. Bryant added that Hughes was armed with a black kitchen knife, according to the report.
Bryant then said he believed he was stabbed three times in the back by Hughes. He added that Hughes attacked him while he was minding his own business and shaving before he had to go to work, according to the report.
Bryant then became upset and stated, “I’m digging myself a [expletive] grave,” according to the report. He then told detectives that he used the same kitchen knife “the detectives got” to stab Hughes, according to the report.
At that point, Bryant began crying and asked, “Why did he have to die for? He was alive when I walked out the door,” according to the report.
Detectives then asked Bryant how many times he stabbed Hughes, to which Bryant claimed he couldn’t remember because he “blacked out” and did not know what happened, according to police.
Bryant then told detectives Hughes had come over to his apartment to visit another person who lived there, and that he would oftentimes visit. On this particular day, Bryant said he and another person were making fun of Hughes and vice versa. However, Hughes was offended, and when Bryant went into his room, he said he felt three stabs to his back, according to the report. When he turned around, he saw Hughes with the knife, and then took the knife from him and threw it to the ground, grabbing another knife to defend himself, according to the report.
Bryant alleged that Hughes then reacquired the original knife and tried to attack him again. When detectives asked Bryant what happened next, he stated, “Nothing man, I defended myself,” according to the report. Detectives stated that Bryant could not recall how many times or where he might have stabbed Hughes.
Detectives determined that while Bryant did have injuries, they were not consistent with being stabbed in the back three times by a knife, according to the report.
When detectives asked Bryant about the bleach found at the crime scene, he told them the bleach was already out in the room before the stabbing because Hughes had spilled alcohol. Bryant denied cleaning the crime scene with bleach after the stabbing or pouring bleach on Hughes, according to the report.
Later, Bryant told detectives that after he left the apartment, he walked to the corner, changed his shirt, and put on his work uniform, the report stated.
Bryant told detectives someone else at the apartment was trying to clean up the crime scene with bleach, which was already “spilled” earlier, according to the report. He reiterated to detectives that Hughes was alive before he left and thought someone else in the apartment was going to call the police. When detectives asked Bryant why he did not tell them the truth during the first interview, he told them he did not want to get into trouble, according to the police report.
Bryant then told detectives that his mother witnessed the entire incident as she was standing next to both Hughes and Bryant as they fought, according to the report.
Based on the video surveillance and 911 call, it was determined that a minimum of 17 minutes passed between the time the stabbing occurred and the time 911 was called, according to the police report.
Detectives also stated that Bryant was found with two packed backpacks full of clothing and toiletry items, which appeared to detectives as if Bryant was planning on fleeing, according to the police report.
Bryant was later taken to the Clark County Detention Center by police, where he was booked on an open murder with a deadly weapon charge, police said.
Anyone with any information about this incident is urged to contact the LVMPD Homicide
Section by phone at 702-828-3521, or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain
anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555 or at crimestoppersofnv.com.
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