The Pennsylvania woman who was drugged, raped and found dead in a Miami Beach hotel room during spring break was a “really good person” according to a close friend who ripped up the “sick” suspects accused of assaulting her.
Christine Englehardt, 24, of Richboro outside Philadelphia, was found dead and half naked Thursday at the Albion Hotel in South Beach, where the pizza shop’s assistant manager had reportedly traveled alone to participate in the annual spring break revelry.
Two North Carolina men, Evoire Collier, 21, and Dorian Taylor, 24, were arrested 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 without bail.
Englehardt’s friends and colleagues are stunned that the North Carolina men would reportedly target such a “really good person,” WPVI reported.
“This is the last person I would ever think would happen,” Englehardt’s close friend, Samantha DiFrancesco, told the station. “It just breaks your heart knowing she was a really good person who would do anything for anyone.”
DiFrancesco said she was outraged by the details of the crime.
“Thinking about what she’s been through is sickening,” continued DiFrancesco. “It’s sick.”
DiFrancesco said her friend always “lit the whole room” when she was around.
“Her smile was the most contagious laugh,” said DiFrancesco.
John Ordway, owner of Jules Thin Crust Pizza in Newtown, where Englehardt worked, said she was shocked to learn of her tragic death.
“She was a lovely young woman who was well respected by her colleagues and staff,” Ordway told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We will miss her very much along with her loving family.”
Prior to Englehardt’s death, Taylor was seen “ holding her by the neck so she could stand, ” a Miami Beach police detective said at a hearing Monday.
Investigators said both men had sex with Englehardt at the hotel and Taylor would have forced herself on her for appearing unconscious.
Collier and Taylor are currently charged with battery burglary, sexual battery, petty theft, and fraudulent use of a credit card for using Englehardt’s stolen cards while on vacation.
Police are still investigating whether Englehardt died of an overdose, possibly from the pill they supplied her, which was believed to be Percocet, according to Miami Beach police.
Englehardt’s cause of death had not yet been determined on Monday and further investigation was needed. Collier and Taylor could be charged with manslaughter or murder if the drug Taylor allegedly gave her played a role in her death, the Miami Herald reported Tuesday.
An online fundraiser set up to help offset Englehardt’s funeral expenses had surpassed $ 27,000 by early Wednesday.
“Christine Englehardt’s life has been taken from her,” the website reads. “Two men who don’t deserve to be mentioned stole this woman’s entire future in a very nauseating way and caused her mother and father a lot of heartbreak.”