Flagler County man already facing drug charges on murder charge in fentanyl death

A Flagler County jury indicted a 31-year-old Palm Coast man on the following charge: death due to illegal distribution a controlled substance.

Justin Timothy Maddox faces life in prison if convicted in the death of Jeremy Kocorowski, according to an indictment filed Thursday.

Maddox was already in the Flagler County jail when a warrant was issued for his arrest charging him with first-degree murder by unlawful distribution of a controlled substance in Kocorowski’s death.

Maddox provided fentanyl or a mixture containing fentanyl According to the indictment, there was a case that either caused or was a “substantial factor” in Kocorowski’s death.

The investigation began when the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office received a call on March 28 about an unresponsive man at an apartment building near Bulldog Drive in Palm Coast. Deputies found Kocorowski, 40, in the kitchen, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies and paramedics attempted life-saving measures, but Kocorowski was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the charging affidavit, Maddox was arrested later that day while driving to Bulldog Drive, across from Flagler Palm Coast High School, to sell narcotics. The sheriff’s office was waiting for him when he arrived.

According to the statement of claim, deputies found 2.4 grams of a substance thought to be positive for oxycodone and fentanyl and 1 gram of a rock-like substance thought to be positive for cocaine in Maddox’s car. Deputies also found 8.5 grams of white powder that tested positive for fentanyl in a bag in Maddox’s left front pocket, the affidavit said.

Maddox said he was meeting a friend to hang out and would give him fentanyl, according to the affidavit. Maddox said his “friend will make him pay for the trouble he’s put him through.”

Maddox was accused of trafficking in fentanyl (4 to 14 grams), possession of oxycodone and cocaine during the arrest in March. The fentanyl trafficking charge is a first-degree crime, and the other two are third-degree crimes.

In a statement from the FCSO, it was stated that Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly has ordered that all deaths resulting from overdose be investigated as first-degree murder cases.

“These are very difficult and time-consuming cases, but our amazing team is working hard to bring the toxic dealer killer to justice,” Staly said. “We will continue to investigate and hold poison traffickers accountable if they supply lethal doses of illegal drugs and send them to prison. If you are a poison dealer and selling a lethal dose in Flagler County, we are coming for you now.

This article first appeared in The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Man accused of fentanyl death in Palm Coast already facing drug charges