FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – For the first time ever in Flagler County, a drug dealer has been convicted of murder in connection with a fatal overdose.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said 23-year-old Savannah DeAngelis was found unresponsive on a bathroom floor on Oct. 28, 2017 with a syringe in her arm and a baggie of heroin and fentanyl nearby.
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She was taken to a hospital, where she died two weeks later.
Deputies said surveillance footage showed 37-year-old Joseph Colon pull up in front of DeAngelis’ apartment and give her something from the vehicle shortly before she overdosed.
Records show he was arrested in November 2017 on charges of trafficking in hydromorphone, possession of heroin, crack cocaine and Alprazolam with intent to distribute, possession of oxycodone and driving with a suspended license. Then in February 2018, he was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in connection with DeAngelis’ death while he was still in jail.
On Monday, Colon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years.
“The first drug dealer in Flagler County to be charged with murder in connection with a drug overdose was sentenced to 30 years in prison on International Drug Overdose Awareness Day. That is poetic justice,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a news release. “I hope that in some way this helps bring healing to the family of Savannah DeAngelis. I have a warning to other poison peddlers. We investigate every overdose death as a murder and you will be next to go to state prison.”
Florida law was amended in 2017 to allow drug dealers to face murder charges if their drug dealing results in a death.