Murder indictments issued in 2 Volusia drug overdoses – News – Daytona Beach News-Journal Online

A grand jury indicted Sergio Perez, 43, of Deltona, with one count of first-degree murder and Melanie Cunningham, 27, of Deltona, with two counts of first-degree murder.

Two ringleaders of a heroin distribution organization jailed after their operation was busted in October were charged Monday with murder for the overdose deaths of two former customers, Volusia sheriff’s officials said.

Sheriff’s spokesman Andrew Gant said a grand jury indicted Sergio Perez, 43, of Deltona, with one count of first-degree murder and Melanie Cunningham, 27, of Deltona, with two counts of first-degree murder.

Sheriff’s Office investigators were able to put a case together connecting the heroin overdose deaths of Joshua Lacy, 34, and Heather McCurdy, 34, to the ringleaders, Gant said.

On Twitter, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said the following about the developments: “Opioids are killing 17 people a day in Florida. To end this crisis, we must hold fully responsible anyone selling this poison to Floridians. I want to thank @SheriffChitwood and State Attorney Larizza for pursuing these charges and working with our office to end the opioid crisis”.

In October under “Operation Geronimo,” Volusia sheriff’s drug agents identified Perez and Cunningham as leaders of a group that distributed heroin laced with fentanyl in the county, officials said.

Perez, Cunningham and their supplier, Roberto Segarra-Garcia of St. Cloud, along with several street-level dealers were arrested.

Cunningham was jailed on multiple charges including trafficking in heroin, conspiracy to traffic in heroin, possession of cocaine, possession of heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana. She was being held on $650,000 bail. On Monday, the two counts of first-degree murder were added.

Perez was locked up on multiple charges including trafficking heroin, conspiracy to traffic in heroin and unlawful use of two-way communication device. On Monday, he was charged with one count of first-degree murder and being held without bail.

Gant said after their arrests in October, Volusia sheriff’s detectives continued to investigate the deaths of Lacy and McCurdy.

Lacy was found dead in his bedroom in his father’s home in Deltona the morning of April 13, 2018. The phone in his pocket contained text messages and a record of calls with contacts of who provided him with heroin, Gant said.

Detectives determined Lacy bought heroin the night before his death and investigators were to connect his death to Perez and Cunningham. An autopsy showed Lacy died of heroin toxicity, Gant said.

McCurdy was found dead in her vehicle the afternoon of June 22, 2018, in a parking lot near a Deltona Winn-Dixie. The last text messages on the phone in her purse were exchanges with a contact identified as “Melanie.” Detectives determined McCurdy bought heroin from Cunningham around 3 p.m. in Deltona, drove straight to the parking lot and overdosed there around 3:16 p.m. An autopsy determined her cause of death was fentanyl toxicity, Gant said.

The indictments are the third and fourth murder indictments in overdose deaths investigated by the Volusia Sheriff’s Office since 2017, officials said.

In June 2018, a grand jury indicted Steve Montilla, 31, of Sanford, in the October 2017 fatal heroin overdose of 34-year-old Jacqueline Griggs of Deltona.

Opioids are killing 17 people a day in Florida. To end this crisis, we must hold fully responsible anyone selling this poison to Floridians. I want to thank@SheriffChitwood and State Attorney Larizza for pursuing these charges and working with our office to end the opioid crisishttps://t.co/cYxH6DrCL0

— Fla. AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody)April 22, 2019

In September 2018, a grand jury indicted Hunter Romaine, 24, of DeBary, in the February 2018 overdose death of 33-year-old Ashley Barrett, who died with a combination of cocaine and fentanyl in her system.

Gant said the Sheriff’s Office is investigating several other fatal drug overdose cases where murder charges are possible.