Florida man charged with murder after fatal sale of Fentanyl, victim thought he was buying heroin

(‘Fentanyl overdoses and deaths on the rise across America,’ Image credit: ABC News / Twitter)

On May 3, Florida’s Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) announced the arrest of 58-year-old William “Dean” Lively, a resident from Cavalier Drive in the county’s Crestview area.  The arrest was the culmination of an investigation and active warrant stemming from the November 17, 2021, death of a victim who died from a Fentanyl overdose.

Lively, a Crestview area resident who sold fentanyl to a man who later died from an overdose is now charged with homicide resulting from the unlawful distribution of fentanyl, according to the Sheriff’s Office

Investigators say the victim purchased what he thought was heroin from Lively and later injected it back at his home.

The man told his wife the heroin wasn’t its usual color. Instead of having a purple tint, it was white, according to an arrest report. The report also stated that Lively told the man to be careful with “the white powder.” ~ WKRG

The man’s wife, who had driven him to Lively’s address to purchase the heroin, left to go to a convenience store and returned to find her husband blue and unresponsive. Text messages and phone calls indicate she then contacted Lively, requesting Narcan and help.

Lively asked “Is he alright?“. A short time later she told Lively her husband had died. An autopsy determined the victim’s death was from accidental acute drug toxicity (fentanyl and alprazolam).

Provisional data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate that there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5% from the 78,056 deaths during the same period the year before.

The new data documents that estimated overdose deaths from opioids increased to 75,673 in the 12-month period ending in April 2021, up from 56,064 the year before. Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine also increased in the 12-month period ending in April 2021. Cocaine deaths also increased, as did deaths from natural and semi-synthetic opioids (such as prescription pain medication).

(Source and William Dean Lively mugshot: Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter