The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said Monday that they are investigating homicide charges in the case against two North Carolina men accused of drugging and raping a Pennsylvania woman who was later found dead in her South Beach hotel room.
The two men, 21-year-old Evoire Collier and 24-year-old Dorian Taylor, have been behind bars since March in connection with the death of 24-year-old Christine Englehardt in Miami Beach.
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Collier and Taylor have been charged with sexual battery, burglary and theft but have not yet been charged in connection with Englehardt's death.
Investigators say Collier and Taylor drugged and raped Englehardt before stealing her phone and credit cards back on March 18. Surveillance footage appears to show the two men walking with Englehardt into her hotel that night.
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Englehardt, who was visiting Miami Beach for Spring Break, was later found dead in her hotel room.
A Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's report released on Monday gives Englehardt's cause of death as "prone positioning while under the influence of Fentanyl and Ethanol."
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According to the report, the men gave Englehardt a green pill resembling oxycodone, and after they were arrested, officers confiscated two green pills from them.
A portion of a pill was submitted for testing and disclosed the presence of Fentanyl, the report said.
“Although the concentration of fentanyl detected is fatal, a component of positional asphyxia, with her face pressed down into soft bedding as a result of physical restraint and/or chemical impairment to facilitate sexual assault, cannot be excluded," the report said.
Detectives have said in court hearings that the victim appeared to be unable to give consent.
Collier and Taylor, who are college roommates and were also in town for Spring Break, remained behind bars without bond Monday.
