TAMPA, Fla. — Florida detectives used a dead woman’s cellphone to track down two people accused of selling the drugs blamed in her death and that of her boyfriend, authorities said.
Jose Alberto Marti, 50, and Melissa Christine Hanna, 42, both of Tampa, were arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the Tampa Bay Times reported. They were being held without bail, according to Hillsborough County online jail records.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to a Tampa apartment on Aug. 1, 2020, to investigate the overdose deaths of a woman in her 40s and a man in his 30s. The causes of death were determined to be fentanyl intoxication for the woman, and a combination of fentanyl-ethanol intoxication for the man, the Times reported.
Detectives were able to link the drugs the victims had taken to Marti, the sheriff’s office said in a news release Tuesday. Detectives contacted Marti through the woman’s cellphone about buying more fentanyl, The Associated Press reported.
Marti and Hanna met with undercover detectives to conduct a transaction, the sheriff’s office said.
Detectives found fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine in their vehicle, according to the news release. Marti and Hanna then allegedly admitted selling the drugs to the victims, the Times reported.
“The poison these individuals peddled is what ultimately killed their two victims,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in the news release. “Their arrests should serve as an eye-opening reminder to anyone who thinks it’s OK to sell drugs in our communities.”
Cox Media Group
