Floral City woman sentenced to 20 years for second-degree murder related to distribution of fentanyl

State Attorney's Office, Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida
Marion, Lake, Citrus, Sumter and Hernando counties

Citrus County, Florida - Early Thursday afternoon June 27, 2024, 47 year-old Delia Marie Dean of Floral City, Florida pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in the Florida Department of Corrections in the fentanyl-related death of 48 year-old Jonathan Michael Bishop of Inverness, Florida. This case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Blake Shore.

"This case represents the significant battle law enforcement faces when combating the opioid epidemic in our communities," said State Attorney Bill Gladson of Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit. "Thanks to recent legislative changes, both our office and our law enforcement partners have new tools to address the issue and hold defendants like this accountable for their roles in perpetuating this crisis."

On April 20, 2024, deputies with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office responded to a West Hudson Street, Inverness residence due to a reported death. Deputies found Jonathan Bishop in his bedroom. He was pronounced deceased due to obvious signs of rigor mortis. Officials spoke with Mr. Bishop's mother and a witness at the residence, and it was determined that Mr. Bishop had no known medical conditions that would cause his passing.. Investigators located a white powdery substance, identified as fentanyl, in Bishop's bathroom.

On May 19, 2022, Mr. Bishop's toxicology report was released from the Medical Examiner's Office; it ruled his cause of death as a combined drug toxicity of fentanyl and alcohol.

Detectives with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes and Tactical Impact units identified Dean as the primary suspect in Bishop's death. Based on evidence, an arrest warrant was issued, and Dean was arrested on May 23, 2022.