Who sold the fatal dose? Boynton officers charge man with murder after overdose death

WEST PALM BEACH — Kalev Kangro lay facedown on the couch while his suspected drug dealer knocked on the front door. Investigators say the dealer came with a second supply of cocaine for Kangro, unaware that the first had killed him earlier that day.

"Really hope ur ok bro," the dealer texted later. "I waited a long time and even knocked hard as hell and no one answered."

Kangro's fatal overdose would have likely been considered an accident had it happened years earlier. However, a trail of texts between the man and his suspected dealer — as well as a recent push by Florida lawmakers to hold peddlers accountable for drug users' deaths — morphed it into something else.

Boynton Beach police officers charged 24-year-old Isaiah Delgado with premeditated murder after identifying him as the man they believe sold Kangro the fatal dose. Investigators say the drug contained fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.

Overdosed and deadly:Five things to know about opioids in Palm Beach County

Without a witness to point fingers, or incriminating text messages left on the victim’s phone, overdoses rarely culminate in an arrest for murder. In Delgado's case, officers say they had both.

Kangro's wife, Laura Jimenez, said she watched Delgado sell her husband cocaine in the kitchen of their Boynton Beach apartment on Feb. 7, the day he was found dead. Jimenez identified Delgado in a police lineup.

An undercover officer posing as a friend of Kangro arranged to meet with Delgado the following day to buy drugs. During their meeting, Delgado told the officer he'd sold Kangro drugs "for a while," and that Kangro sometimes consumed so much of it that he overdosed.

The officer bought $7,000 worth of cocaine from Kangro over six months, according to his arrest report. He charged Kangro on July 9 with first-degree murder and 11 counts related to drug trafficking. He was denied bail and remains in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Of all dealers charged with first-degree murder, none has been convicted

Delgado, of Lantana, joins a growing list of Palm Beach County residents charged with murder in the wake of customer overdoses. Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg promised in 2018 to "aggressively charge drug dealers who spread deadly fentanyl-laced heroin" and subsequently indicted a handful of people on first-degree murder charges.

Prosecutors have yet to convict anyone this way, opting instead to resolve cases with plea deals to lesser offenses.

For Subscribers:First-degree murder charges for drug dealers in Palm Beach aren't sticking. Here’s why.

Calvin Warren Jr. was the first. Facing life in prison for the 2017 overdose of Travis Tekel, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder instead for a 22-year prison sentence.

Vicki Sakers was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the 2017 overdose death of her friend Candace Moreland; she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to three years of probation.

So did Joreel Sine, who sold Sakers the drug. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter in 2022. Prosecutors indicted Jamel Roseau in 2021 on two counts of first-degree murder for the overdose deaths of Holland Harriss and Michael Edgell. His case remains open.

Kangro, who is represented by the county Public Defender's Office, is due in court next at 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 16. As a policy, the office does not comment on open cases.

Hannah Phillips covers public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.