Man charged with murder in Bradenton fentanyl overdose that killed woman, sheriff says
.jpg "The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office says Evan O’Connor, 31, has been charged with murder for a fentanyl overdose at a Wawa gas station in Bradenton.")
A man accused of selling fentanyl-laced pills that led to a woman’s fatal overdose in Bradenton has been charged with murder, the sheriff’s office said Monday.
Evan O’Connor, 31, is charged with “murder by distribution of fentanyl” after an investigation into the August 2023 overdose of 27-year-old Taylor Moran, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say they found Moran dead in the backseat of her car on Aug. 8, 2023, at a Wawa gas station on State Road 70 East. A small blue pill discovered in her clothing later tested positive for fentanyl, and her death was ruled an overdose, according to a news release.
About a year later, detectives say they found new evidence that Moran sought out O’Connor to buy what she believed to be oxycodone pills, commonly called “blues.” But investigators say O’Connor knowingly sold Moran counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl.
Woman found dead at Bradenton Wawa
According to the sheriff’s office, Moran took the pills in the presence of O’Connor and another woman before losing consciousness. Instead of seeking help, investigators say O’Connor and the other woman placed Moran in the backseat of her own car and left her at the gas station, where she was later found dead.
Detectives say cellphone evidence confirmed that the two had been talking leading up to Moran’s death and that she had asked O’Connor for oxycodone. Investigators also interviewed the woman who was with O’Connor at the gas station that night, and she further confirmed what happened, the sheriff’s office said.
On Thursday, detectives arrested O’Connor and charged him with murder by distribution of fentanyl, a first-degree felony and capital crime that can be punished with the death penalty. O’Connor is currently being held at Holmes Correction Institution in Bonifay, Florida, according to the sheriff’s office.
