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Riverview Woman Charged With First-Degree Murder Following Deadly Overdose In Lithia

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – A Riverview woman is facing a first-degree murder charge after investigators linked her to a drug overdose that killed a 36-year-old woman last fall, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrested Katrina Broaddus, 39, at her Riverview home on Thursday, August 13, 2026. She is charged with Murder in the First Degree resulting from the Unlawful Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

The investigation began on October 14, 2025, when deputies responded to a report of a woman who appeared to be asleep in a vehicle along the 12000 block of Horseshoe Bend Drive in Lithia. Upon arrival, deputies found Katelyn Thall, 36, dead inside the car. Investigators at the scene recovered drug paraphernalia and a quantity of suspected narcotics around her body.

Because the scene indicated a fatal drug overdose, the sheriff’s office Opioid Overdose Investigations Section took over the case.

Police Lights (File)
Police Lights (File)

According to detectives, Thall met with Broaddus on the evening of October 13, 2025, and obtained fentanyl from her.

Forensic testing on the substances found in the vehicle confirmed the presence of fentanyl, carfentanil, cocaine, and xylazine. Subsequent toxicology tests revealed that Thall had 18 times the lethal dose of fentanyl and carfentanil in her system at the time of her death.

Over the following months, detectives built the case, verified the toxicology results, and traced the narcotics directly back to Broaddus before securing a warrant for her arrest.

“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,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “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.”

READ: Florida Parents Arrested Months After 7-Week-Old Infant Dies From Blunt Force Trauma

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