Jason Blu Griffith and the Murder of Debbie Flores Narvaez

Jason “Blu” Griffith, a former Cirque du Soleil dancer, is serving ten years to life in a Nevada prison for the second-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend Debbie Flores Narvaez, a 31-year-old Las Vegas showgirl he strangled in December 2010 and whose dismembered remains he and a roommate encased in concrete. A jury convicted him in May 2014. He remains at High Desert State Prison, and the parole board has denied his release twice.

Who Debbie Flores Narvaez Was

Flores Narvaez was born in Puerto Rico and raised near Baltimore. She earned an MBA and worked in finance before moving to Las Vegas to perform.¹ From 2007 to 2008 she served as a cheerleader ambassador for the Washington Redskins.² In Las Vegas she danced in the burlesque production Fantasy at the Luxor and had just secured a featured segment alongside R&B singer Sisqó at the time of her death.³

Who Jason “Blu” Griffith Was

Jason Omar Griffith, originally from Brooklyn, was 35 at the time of his trial and performed a lead role in Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles-themed show Love at The Mirage.⁴ According to his mother, he had previously toured as a backup dancer for Toni Braxton and performed as a New York Knicks City Dancer.⁵

His relationship with Flores Narvaez was on-again, off-again, and police were called to their North Las Vegas home for domestic violence on at least three occasions.⁵ On October 22, 2010, he was arrested on misdemeanor domestic-violence battery and felony coercion after a vehicle pursuit that ended with him allegedly kicking Flores Narvaez and pulling her hair; officers recovered a chunk of hair at the scene and photographed bruises on her legs.⁶ His arraignment on those charges was set for December 21, 2010, days after she vanished.

By that time Griffith was also pursuing Agnes Roux, a dancer in Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity. Roux later testified that she broke up with him in early December 2010 and told him she would not take him back if he kept seeing Flores Narvaez.⁷

The Killing

Surveillance video captured Flores Narvaez leaving her home in her car around 6:00 p.m. on December 12, 2010. She missed a midnight rehearsal and was reported missing on December 14.¹

She had gone to Griffith’s home, where the two argued. Griffith’s roommate, Louis Colombo, testified that he saw Flores Narvaez jabbing her finger into Griffith’s chest and Griffith grabbing her by the throat. Colombo said he left the house, and when he returned he found her body on the floor with a plastic shopping bag over her head. Griffith, he testified, told him he had choked her from behind.⁸ The medical examiner ruled the cause of death strangulation.

The Concrete Tubs

Griffith and Colombo placed Flores Narvaez’s body in a large plastic tub, filled it with concrete, and moved the roughly 700-pound container by U-Haul to the home of a friend who was out of the country.⁹ When the first tub leaked, they came back with a sledgehammer, a hand saw, and cleaning supplies. They dismembered the body, split the remains into two new tubs of cement, and hid them inside sealed closets of a vacant downtown Las Vegas home.¹⁰

Colombo eventually cooperated with police and led investigators to the remains on January 8, 2011, about a month after the killing.¹¹ Griffith was arrested shortly after and charged with murder.¹²

The Trial and Verdict

The nine-day trial opened in May 2014 in Clark County District Court before Judge Kathleen Delaney.¹³ Griffith took the stand and claimed self-defense. He testified that Flores Narvaez hit him and reached toward her purse, which he said he feared held a gun. No weapon was ever found. He said he grabbed her from behind, they fell to the floor, her head became wedged in the crooks of his elbows, and he held on until she stopped struggling.¹¹

Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo called the self-defense account a “fabrication,” noting that Griffith never tried to resuscitate Flores Narvaez and instead spent hours concealing the body. Prosecutor Michelle Fleck argued that Griffith had provoked her by lying about his other relationships and pulling away after accompanying her to an abortion clinic months earlier.¹⁴ Colombo, who received blanket immunity in exchange for his cooperation, testified that Griffith sawed off the victim’s legs; Griffith testified that Colombo did it.⁸ Although Flores Narvaez had told people she was pregnant, an autopsy found no evidence of pregnancy.¹⁰

On May 22, 2014, after about 14 hours of deliberation over two days, a jury of seven men and five women found Griffith guilty of second-degree murder rather than the first-degree charge prosecutors had sought.¹² On July 23, 2014, Judge Delaney sentenced him to ten years to life, with credit for 1,294 days served.¹⁵ Griffith was not separately charged for the dismemberment.³

Appeals

The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the conviction on direct appeal in August 2016. Griffith’s state postconviction habeas petition was denied, and the Nevada Court of Appeals affirmed that denial in April 2023. He then filed a federal habeas petition in U.S. District Court arguing ineffective assistance of appellate counsel, including claims that his lawyers failed to raise prosecutorial misconduct and failed to challenge the exclusion of certain emails from the victim. The federal court found several claims unexhausted in state court.¹⁶

Parole and Current Status

Griffith became parole-eligible on January 5, 2021. The parole board denied release in 2020 and again in 2025, and his next hearing is scheduled for January 2030.¹ Nevada Department of Corrections records list him at High Desert State Prison under NDOC ID 0001125188.¹⁷

Flores Narvaez’s sister, Celeste, has appeared at each parole hearing in person. At sentencing in 2014 she said she would attend every future hearing, and she has. “I will always be there face to face because I want them to see what I have to deal with,” she told ABC News. “I want you to physically hear my words, see my emotions, and understand the frustration and anxiety and stress and the trauma that I deal with on a daily basis because of what he’s given me.”³ She has also used her sister’s story to speak publicly about domestic abuse awareness.¹⁸

The 2026 20/20 Interview

ABC’s 20/20 revisited the case in an episode titled “Death of a Showgirl” that aired April 17, 2026. The program included an interview with Celeste Flores Narvaez and a phone interview with Griffith from prison, in which he said, “Debbie Flores is dead and she did not deserve to die. I’m not trying to get out of responsibility. I’m not trying to diminish what this situation is by any means.”³ The statement was a shift from his trial, where he had pleaded not guilty and maintained the killing was self-defense.

1
People. Debbie Flores Narvaez Murder Everything To Know
2
WJLA. Former Redskins Cheerleader Ambassador Missing in Las Vegas
3
ABC News. Debbie Flores Narvaez Murder: Las Vegas Showgirl Vanished
4
NBC News. Vegas Performer Guilty of Killing, Dismembering Dancer
5
Las Vegas Review-Journal. Opening Statements Expected in Trial of Man Accused of Killing Strip Dancer
6
ABC News. Police: Missing Vegas Dancer’s Beau Arrested on Abuse Charges
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Las Vegas Review-Journal. Zumanity Dancer Details Relationship With Griffith During Trial
8
Las Vegas Sun. Housemate Testifying in Luxor Dancer Slaying Case
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CBS News. Ex-Boyfriend Allegedly Dumped Dancer’s Dismembered Body in Cement
10
Seattle Times. Jury Hears About Cement Tub in Dancer Slaying Case
11
Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Man Found Guilty of Killing, Dismembering Vegas Dancer
12
CBS News. Ex-Boyfriend Convicted of Murdering Las Vegas Dancer
13
Las Vegas Sun. Last Dance: Former Strip Performer Sentenced in Luxor Dancer’s Death
14
Tuscaloosa News. Ex-Las Vegas Performer Convicted in Dismemberment Slaying of Dancer
15
KSL. Man Gets 10 Years to Life in Death of Vegas Dancer
16
Justia. Griffith v. State, U.S. District Court Order
17
Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners. Parole Eligibility Report
18
Las Vegas Sun. Hearing Set for Ex-Boyfriend in Luxor Dancer’s Death