Man Ditches Overdosing Friend, Faces Manslaughter Charge: Sheriff

VENICE, FL — A Venice man has been charged with manslaughter in the May 28 overdose death of a friend, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Cristos Karamitsos, 44, was arrested Tuesday for manslaughter by culpable negligence, possession of narcotic equipment and destruction of evidence. When he was taken into custody, deputies saw him toss syringes and a spoon used for preparing drugs from his car.

Deputies say that just six hours after his friend was released from the county’s correctional facility, where he served two months on a narcotics charge, in May, Karamitsos picked him up. The two had a history of taking drugs together and were also in prison at the same time.

Karamitsos told detectives that they went to two convenience stores on their way to his home in Venice. The victim, whose name isn’t being released under Marsy’s Law, disappeared behind the second convenience store for about 15 minutes, he said.

When they got to his home, Karamitsos left his friend in the car for several hours. He later found the victim “stiff and barely conscious” in the car, according to the news release.

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Rather than dialing 911, Karamitsos drove the victim to his mother’s house. Surveillance footage shows him pulling his friend from the car and leaving him in the front yard, deputies said. When his friend’s mother and uncle called 911 and started CPR, Karamitsos left.

Deputies responded to the home, which is located on Fray Street in Englewood, just before 6:30 a.m. on May 28. Paramedics pronounced the victim dead shortly after arriving.

The Medical Examiner’s autopsy and toxicology reports said he died from intoxication by fentanyl. Prior to his death, he had bypass surgery due to heart damage related to drug abuse, deputies said.

“This is one of several arrests we have made over the past few years as the direct result of an opioid overdose,” Sheriff Kurt Hoffman said. “Gone are the days of willful ignorance. Addiction is a disease and anyone who provides these fatal drugs or facilitates their use should assume they will be held fully accountable for their actions.”

Karamitsos, who remains in custody without bond, has more than a dozen prior local arrests for crimes including domestic battery, fleeing to elude and several drug charges, deputies said.