MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — A man was arrested after deputies said he knowingly sold a woman fentanyl at a Bradenton gas station, which led to her death.
The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said on Aug. 8, 2023, deputies were sent to a Wawa on State Road 70 East to investigate after an unconscious person was found inside a vehicle outside the building.
When they arrived, deputies found 27-year-old Taylor Moran in the rear seat of her car, who had already died. MCSO said the scene pointed to a drug overdose, with no signs of trauma or foul play.
During an autopsy, a small blue pill was found in Moran's clothes, which tested positive for fentanyl. Deputies ruled the cause of death as intoxication due to fentanyl.
In August 2024, detectives received information that Moran had approached 31-year-old Evan O'Connor to buy "Blues" (Oxycodone). An investigation revealed that O'Connor knew the pills contained fentanyl and sold them to Moran without her knowledge.
Moran then took the pills and passed out in front of O'Connor and another woman, who placed Moran back in her car and left her at the gas station, according to MCSO. Cell phone evidence confirmed their communication about the pills prior to her overdose.
On Feb. 5, 2025, detectives conducted a phone interview with the woman who was present on the night she and O'Conner met Moran. She corroborated the claims that O'Connor provided Moran with the pills and left her to die. A day later, on Feb. 6, deputies arrested O'Connor and charged him with murder by distribution of fentanyl.
He is currently being held at Holmes Correctional Institution in Bonifay, Florida, for fentanyl trafficking.
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