The Pennsylvania woman who was drugged, raped and found dead in a Miami Beach hotel room during spring break was a “genuinely good person”, according to a close friend who stole the “sick” suspects accused of target it.
Christine Englehardt, 24, of Richboro on the outskirts of Philadelphia, was found dead and half-naked on Thursday at the Albion Hotel in South Beach, where the assistant manager of the pizzeria reportedly traveled alone to attend the annual spring break party.
Two North Carolina men, Evoire Collier, 21, and Dorian Taylor, 24, were arrested on Sunday for allegedly drugging Englehardt with a “green pill” before raping her and stealing her credit cards, according to police and reports. Both Greensboro men remain in custody without bail.
Englehardt’s friends and co-workers are surprised that North Carolina men are supposed to target a “genuinely good person,” WPVI reported.
“This is the last person I would think this would happen to,” Englehardt’s close friend Samantha DiFrancesco told the station. “It breaks your heart when you know that she was a genuinely good person who would do anything for anyone.”
DiFrancesco said she was outraged by the details of the crime.
“Thinking about what she went through is revolting,” continued DiFrancesco. “It’s sick.”
DiFrancesco said that her friend always “lit up the entire room” when she was around.
“Her laugh was the most contagious,” said DiFrancesco.
John Ordway, owner of Jules Thin Crust Pizza in Newtown, where Englehardt worked, said he was shocked to learn of his tragic death.
“She was a lovely young woman, very respected by her coworkers and staff,” Ordway told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We, together with her loving family, will miss her very much.”
Before Englehardt’s death, Taylor was seen “holding her by the neck so she could stand,” a Miami Beach police detective said at a hearing on Monday.
Investigators said the two men had sex with Englehardt at the hotel and Taylor allegedly forced her because she appeared to be unconscious.
Collier and Taylor are currently charged with assault theft, sexual assault, petty theft and fraudulent use of a credit card for using Englehardt’s stolen cards during their vacation.
Police are still investigating whether Englehardt died of an overdose, possibly from the pill he was given, which was believed to be Percocet, according to Miami Beach police.
Englehardt’s cause of death had not been determined until Monday, with more tests needed. Collier and Taylor could be charged with manslaughter or murder if the drug Taylor allegedly gave him played a role in his death, the Miami Herald reported on Tuesday.
An online fundraiser created to help offset Englehardt’s funeral costs exceeded $ 27,000 on Wednesday.
“Christine Englehardt’s life was taken from her,” says the website. “Two men who don’t deserve to be named stole this woman’s entire future in a very sickening way and made her mother and father very sad.”