A Bartow man was indicted for first-degree murder on Thursday after Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he sold cocaine to a woman who later died of an overdose.
Troy Walker, 48, has been in jail since his arrest last year, which was related to a larger drug investigation ongoing in Bartow, Judd said.
In September of last year, Walker sold cocaine to a 65-year-old Bartow woman. Judd said the woman took the drugs and collapsed outside her front door on the way to church. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she later died.
As part of the larger drug investigation in Bartow, detectives wiretapped a telephone and found out that Walker had sold the woman drugs.
Judd explained that detectives heard people talking about the woman’s death, and said they seemed nervous that they had sold her drugs a day before her death.
Around 42 people were arrested in connection with that investigation, and more information will be released next week, the sheriff said.
Judd said the sheriff’s office recently received confirmation from the medical examiner that the victim’s cause of death was acute cocaine toxicity, and a grand jury indicted Walker on the first-degree murder charge on Thursday.
Last October, Walker was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and multiple counts of conspiracy to sell cocaine and oxycodone, among other charges. He has been in the Polk County Jail since his arrest last year, where he remains with no bond.
