Police have arrested two North Carolina men who are accused of drugging and raping a woman who later died at a Miami Beach hotel during spring break festivities last week.
Police arrested Evoire Collier, 21, and Dorian Taylor, 24, who are also accused of stealing the victim’s credit cards and cash and using them during their trip to South Beach, according to a report by NBC affiliate NBC-6. Collier and Taylor are facing charges of burglary with battery, petty theft, sexual battery and credit card fraud.
Christine Englehardt, 24, died March 18 after being found at the Albion Hotel on Miami Beach, police in Florida said. The Bucks County, Pennsylvania, resident had traveled to Florida alone, her family told the media.
Surveillance footage showed the two men entering the hotel lobby in the 1600 block of James Avenue with Englehardt about 1 a.m. last Thursday, according to police reports. About 30 minutes later, the footage shows Collier and Taylor exiting the hotel alone. Police stopped both men, who matched the visuals on the surveillance footage, and detained them Sunday.
A Miami Beach detective testified at the bond hearing and said that based on the surveillance footage, Englehardt appeared to be in no condition to give any kind of consent prior to entering the hotel. He added that one of the defendants actually helped hold her up as they went up to her hotel room.
Investigators are determining whether Englehardt’s death resulted from a “green pill” that they believe the suspects supplied. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday it is conducting further tests, and no cause of death has been determined pending a toxicology report.
If the drug the men are accused of giving her is proven to have played a role in her death, Collier and Taylor could possibly face manslaughter charges.
The Pennsylvania woman’s death comes as Miami Beach officials set up an 8 p.m. curfew and other safety measures in an effort to control the brutish spring break crowds in the area. Between Feb. 3 and March 21, there were more than 1,000 arrests in the city, with more than 350 of those for felony offenses, and more than 80 seized firearms, City Manager Raul Aguila told NBC-6.
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