Teenager Faces Up to 27 Years in Nevada Prison for Murder at Luxor

Posted on: September 10, 2024, 10:56h. 

Last updated on: September 10, 2024, 11:10h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A teenager was sentenced to between 11 and 27 years behind bars for last year’s killing of a man at Las Vegas’ Luxor Hotel & Casino.

Clark County Judge Jacqueline Bluth handed down the sentence to Emma Kusak, now 19, in July, Las Vegas TV station KLAS reported on Monday. Kusak must also pay more than $15K to the victim’s family.

Kusak can apply for parole in nine years. She will receive credit for time she spent in jail.

This summer, Kusak pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon under a plea agreement. Originally, Kusak was charged with open murder, robbery, and grand larceny of a motor vehicle.

She fired a gun and wounded Charlie Satrustegui, 36, of Glendale, Calif. twice in the head while the two were in a Luxor hotel room on June 29, 2023.

She then stole his wallet, cell phones, keys, and his car, police said.

Hours after the shooting, she called the police to report the incident. Satrustegui was found dead in the hotel room when police arrived.

Kusak was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on July 26, 2023, the very day she turned 18.

Victim Lunged at Her

When speaking to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officers, Kusak claimed the shooting wasn’t intentional, and said Satrustegui appeared to be planning to attack her during an argument. To defend herself, she picked up his handgun from a table and shot him, according to an arrest report.

I didn’t mean to do it,” Kusak told cops.

The two had been drinking and consumed approximately eight vodka shots the night before the incident. They went to sleep at about 1 a.m. before Satrustegui woke up about two hours later and told Kusak she was coughing excessively.

She went into the bathroom and began to cry. When she returned to the bedroom later that night, the two began to argue.

Eventually, Satrustegui wanted Kusak to leave the hotel room, according to Las Vegas TV station KVVU.

Emma said she didn’t mean to shoot him and didn’t want to shoot him, but she had nowhere to go and didn’t want to go back to jail. Emma said she impulsively shot Charlie,” the LVMPD arrest report stated.

Satrustegui and Kusak first met on a dating app, Bumble, two months before the homicide. The two texted each other until they met at the Luxor where Satrustegui had booked a room.