MARION COUNTY, Fla. – A 2021 overdose death in Marion County has since led to a guilty verdict of first-degree murder for the man who sold the fatal dose of fentanyl to the victim, according to the local state attorney’s office.
Marquis Rosado, 22, was convicted on Wednesday of death caused by the unlawful distribution of fentanyl, considered a capital felony in Florida tantamount with murder in the first-degree and punishable with life in prison without parole, or the death penalty.
In a news release, the office of State Attorney William Gladson called the trial a “landmark” in the Fifth Judicial Circuit, marking “a significant development in a case that has highlighted the deadly impact of Fentanyl in our community.”
Rosado was arrested on drugs charges Jan. 6, 2022, in an investigation that began Oct. 12, 2021, when the Marion County Sheriff’s Office responded to the fatal overdose of 26-year-old Marcus Lane II, of Ocala. The Medical Examiner’s Office in Nov. 2021 determined that Lane’s death resulted from fentanyl and ethanol toxicity as detectives otherwise followed text messages on Lane’s cellphone to Rosado, confirming with help from surveillance video and witness accounts that Rosado delivered the fentanyl to Lane’s home several hours before the overdose, the release states.
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Rosado in Aug. 2022 was indicted of first-degree murder by a Grand Jury, after which he was re-arrested and held without bond at the Marion County Jail until his trial began on Tuesday, according to the release.
“This conviction underscores the commitment of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and our office to combat the distribution of dangerous drugs and seek justice for victims and their families,” Gladson said in a statement. “I am extremely proud of Assistant State Attorney Berndt for diligently prosecuting this case and laying the groundwork for future prosecutions of these types of crimes.”
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