Las Vegas police: Woman suggested husband was cleaning gun when he died
By Elaine Emerson
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LAS VEGAS (KVVU) — UPDATE: In August, the Clark County Coroner’s Office said that Jourell Ng died of a gunshot wound in a homicide.
Original story continues below:
A woman suggested her husband died while cleaning his gun before she was arrested on a murder charge, according to an arrest report from Las Vegas Metropolitan Police.
Emily Ikuta, 37, was arrested on a murder charge March 25 after a shooting that left her husband, 36-year-old Jourell Ng, dead on March 22.
Ikuta called police just after 11 p.m. March 22 to report that Ng was in medical distress, an arrest report said. Ikuta later told police she thought her husband was suffering from a diabetic episode. Ikuta said she found her husband after taking her dog on a walk.
During the call, Ikuta said she discovered a gunshot wound on her husband. When police arrived, Ng received medical attention but he died at the scene, the report said. Police said it appeared that the gun was fired at very close range in the husband’s torso.
As police cleared the rest of the house, they found a locked closet. Inside, they found a black semi-automatic handgun with a slide and a magazine nearby. When police asked Ikuta about the gun, she said she found it beside her husband but put it in the closet before police arrived, the report said.
Ikuta suggested that her husband may have shot himself while cleaning his gun, according to the arrest report. Police found gun cleaning items nearby but noted that none were recently used, the report said.
A neighbor told police that they heard an argument between the couple just before 11 p.m. The neighbor said they heard a loud noise and “the argument immediately stopped,” the arrest report said. Ikuta told police she wasn’t arguing with her husband that night.
Ng’s brother later told police that Ikuta had contacted family to let them know he had died, but didn’t mention that he was shot, the report said. Police also interviewed someone who was on a live chat with Ng when they heard a loud noise that they thought was a gunshot. The person said they didn’t hear from Ng after that.
According to court records, Ikuta was not granted bail. Her next hearing was set for April 8.
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