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Riverview woman charged with murder in fatal fentanyl overdose investigation: HCSO

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RIVERVIEW, Fla. — A Riverview woman is facing a first-degree murder charge after investigators accused her of distributing fentanyl and carfentanil linked to a deadly overdose in Lithia, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials began investigating on Oct. 14, 2025, after a passerby reported a woman appearing to be asleep inside a vehicle parked near a home in the 12000 block of Horseshoe Bend Drive.

When deputies arrived, they found 36-year-old Katelyn Thall dead inside the vehicle, HCSO said.

Deputies recovered drug paraphernalia and suspected narcotics from the scene, prompting the HCSO Opioid Overdose Investigations Section to take over the case.

Detectives later determined Thall met with Katrina Broaddus, 39, on the night before her death and obtained fentanyl from her.

Forensic testing found the substances recovered at the scene contained fentanyl, carfentanil, cocaine and xylazine.

Toxicology results showed the fentanyl and carfentanil levels in Thall’s blood were 18 times higher than a lethal dose.

Officials spent months tracing the narcotics back to Broaddus and building the case through forensic evidence and toxicology findings.

On Aug. 13, detectives arrested Broaddus at her Riverview home on a charge of first-degree murder resulting from the unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, per HCSO.

"This is the third arrest in two weeks on this exact charge, and dealers need to hear it clearly: we are watching, we are working these cases, and we will not stop," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "Fentanyl doesn't discriminate, and neither will we when it comes to holding accountable the people who put it on our streets and take our neighbors' lives."

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