LAS VEGAS >> A murder charge was dropped and a student from Latvia was freed from a Las Vegas jail after claiming self-defense in a fight that left a man dead in a casino hotel room.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Thursday there was insufficient evidence to prosecute 22-year-old Matejs Balodis.
Defense attorney Richard Schonfeld says Balodis planned to return to Europe after his release from jail.
Balodis was arrested about 6:30 p.m. Monday after 55-year-old Sherman Dale Lamb was found bloody and unconscious in a room the two checked into earlier that day at the South Point Casino.
Lamb died at a hospital.
Balodis told police he met Lamb during a travel layover at McCarran International Airport and fought Lamb after Lamb tried to rob him.