LAKE WALES, Fla. — A 29-year-old man from Lake Wales was indicted for first-degree murder after authorities say he was responsible for selling fentanyl-laced heroin to a man who overdosed on it.
Tevin Lindsay had been in jail since June 2022 after he was arrested during an undercover drug trafficking investigation and was recently indicted by a Polk County grand jury for murder in relation to the death of a 23-year-old Ocala man, deputies say.
“The fentanyl crisis in this country is real and it is killing thousands of people," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "When we investigate deaths caused by a drug overdose, we do everything within our power to hold those who peddle poison responsible.
"Thanks to the hard work of my detectives and State Attorney Brian Haas and his prosecutors, this murderer should be in prison for the rest of his life.”
The 23-year-old man was found dead and possibly overdosed on heroin in the city of Lake Alfred on June 14, 2022, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. He was then taken to a nearby hospital where his death was later confirmed as a suspected drug overdose.
After having their services requested by the Lake Alfred Police Department, detectives with the sheriff's office discovered that the 23-year-old purchased what they believed to be was heroin from Lindsay and a sample of the drugs was found at the place where he died, law enforcement says.
Once the samples were tested, results reportedly confirmed that the drugs Linsday sold were cocaine and fentanyl.
"During the autopsy and toxicological analysis of the victim’s blood, an elevated concentration of fentanyl, that was too high for a human to survive, was present," the release reads. "The Medical Examiner’s opinion is that the victim died as a result of 'multiple drug toxicity.'"
Deputies say Lindsay confessed on Oct. 24, 2022, to selling heroin to the 23-year-old and faced 13 different charges, including trafficking in heroin, trafficking in cocaine and possession of fentanyl with intent to sell.
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