Man charged with murder in connection to overdose

Joey Wayne Hallmark died face down on the southwest corner of Egerton Circle and Wexford Lane in Sarasota. Grass stains marked the back of the 41-year-old’s tank top and his shorts were pulled down. His pockets were empty. His left shoe sat next to his body. A “thick brown liquid” was found on his face and hand.

The medical examiner’s office said he died while intoxicated with ethanol and carfentanil, the latter of which is 10,000 times more potent than morphine. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has charged a 38-year-old John Francis Michels II of Englewood in his death.

On March 28, hours before he died, Hallmark left his girlfriend at home around 12:30 a.m. to buy groceries and stood in line at a 7-Eleven on Clark Road, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Around 2 a.m., he met Michels. Hallmark bought him gas. Michels sold him carfentanil, the affidavit said. Five hours later, law enforcement found Hallmark dead on the street corner in Sarasota.

In April, Michels told law enforcement in an interview how he met Hallmark, according to the affidavit. Four months later, the medical examiner’s office confirmed how Hallmark died.

Now, Michels has been charged with murder and he remains at the Sarasota County jail without bond.

“This arrest is directly in line with our pragmatic four-pronged approach which begins with enforcement,” Sheriff Tom Knight said in a press release. “Dealers who prey on those battling substance abuse, will continue to be identified, targeted, and arrested, so that they know this criminal behavior is not tolerated in Sarasota County.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 11:31 AM with the headline "Man charged with murder in connection to overdose."