Man gets 20 years for selling teenager fentanyl that killed him at Panama City Beach party
A Florida man was found guilty of manslaughter for selling fentanyl-laced pills to a teenager.
The 16-year-old victim purchased what he believed to be Percocet, but the pills contained fatal levels of fentanyl.
The dealer, Elijah Tee McLeroy, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime.
PANAMA CITY — A man was found guilty of manslaughter after selling a Panama City Beach teenager the fentanyl that killed him.
Elijah Tee McLeroy, 24, from Jackson County was found guilty Oct. 29 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for the second-degree felony of manslaughter and a violation of probation charge.
McLeroy attended a party on the beach under the Russel-Fields Pier the night of July 21, 2022. During the party, court documents say that he was selling narcotics out of a fanny pack he was wearing. The teenager purchased two blue pills from McLeroy, which were marketed as Percocet. Court documents say he didn’t take the pills at the party and later went back to his home.
He was found dead in his bed by his mother the next morning.
While investigating the scene, authorities found a small, round, blue pill near his body. The pill had an “M” surrounded by a square on one side and a “30” on the other side.
Authorities determined it to be oxycodone hydrochloride, also known as Percocet. Nearby was a rolled-up dollar bill and what was left of the second pill, suggesting that he had crushed and snorted it.
Witnesses told authorities that they watched McLeroy sell the pills to the teenager and that they had also purchased pills from McLeroy that night. Photos of the pills they purchased were provided to investigators, and they were found to be identical to the pill found in the teen’s room.
A release from the State Attorney’s Office says that one of the 16-year-old’s friends, who took the same pills, overdosed and survived after going to the hospital. Another one of his friends became ill.
When the Florida Department of Law Enforcement tested the pill found in the teen’s room, it was found to contain fentanyl, parafluorofentanyl (a potent synthetic opioid and fentanyl analog) and xylazine (a veterinary tranquilizer).
An autopsy revealed the teen to have fatal levels of fentanyl in his system, and his cause of death was ruled to be caused by fentanyl and fluorofentanyl toxicity.
Photos collected by investigators connecting McLeroy to the fentanyl that killed a 16 year old in Panama City Beach.
The 16-year-old and his friends found McLeroy through Snapchat. McLeroy had posted “shop open” during the beach party under his account “Enokthegoat2.”
After the teen’s death, his friends warned dozens in a group chat not to buy drugs from McLeroy.
They posted screenshots that included “$120 payment for 6 of the pills that night, a picture of McLeroy, a picture of the pills, and a video of them flushing the remaining pills down the toilet,” according to the release.
“I want you to know the impact of what you’ve done,” the victim’s mother wrote to McElroy in a statement read before sentencing. “… You took my future, my peace, and a part of my soul. You didn’t just end one life – you shattered so many others.
“Our family will never be the same,” she said. “The pain and emptiness you caused will last for the rest of my life.”
The Florida Department of Health tracks fatal opioid overdoses, although the data lags. The last full calendar year of data for Bay County comes from 2023 and shows 44 opioid deaths. This is down from a 2021 spike of 71 deaths, but still tracks above the state average.
When FDOH started aggregating this data in 2015, there were 21 fatal opioid overdoses in Bay County.
