2 North Carolina men charged in murder of Pennsylvania woman visiting Miami Beach on spring break
Two North Carolina men who have already been charged with the rape of a 24-year-old Pennsylvania woman who overdosed and died while visiting Miami Beach on spring break have now been charged with first-degree murder.
A Miami-Dade County grand jury indicted the men on Wednesday and subsequently tacked on the additional first-degree charge against one of the defendants who is accused of killing a man three days after the death of Christine Englehardt.
Prosecutors argued that the two tourists died from an overdose of fentanyl and the grand jury agreed, finding Evoire Collier and Dorian Taylor culpable as they supplied the opioid to both Englehardt. Taylor was also charged with providing the drug to Walter Riley, 21, of Chicago.
In the grand jury’s report, it was found that the suspects killed Englehardt while raping and robbing her, stemming from the “unlawful distribution of fentanyl.” The report added that Collier and Taylor “unlawfully” entered Englehardt’s hotel room and then proceeded to sexually assault her.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that showed both men used the credit cards stolen from Englehardt to buy products from a liquor store and the Sugar Factory.
The attorney representing Collier, Phil Reizenstein, came out swinging against the grand jury’s decision, saying that he was “stunned” by the indictment. He added that the medical examiner was unable to pinpoint the drug that led to her death due to the multitude of substances found in her system, according to the Miami Herald.
“I think they’re going to regret doing this,” Reizenstein said. “I think by the time I’m finished with them, they’re never going to be able to say she died of this.”
Due to the nature of the charges and in conjunction with Florida law, the two men are being held at a correctional center and were denied bond.
Both men were initially arrested on March 23, five days after Englehardt was found dead in her hotel room. They were charged with sexual battery, burglary with battery, credit card fraud and petty theft.
The two pleaded not guilty to those charges, despite Collier saying that he had given to Englehardt a green pill and raped her unconscious body before escaping with her belongings, according to the arrest report.
Last month the medical examiner said that the pills that Englehardt ingested were done so in a “rapidly fatal” manner. Findings also showed that her blood alcohol level was near .20, nearly three times the legal limit. The medical examiner added that asphyxia may have potentially lead to her death.
