On July 17th 2021 Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies along with EMS responded to 16815 Sarah’s Place, Clermont regarding an unresponsive male in a vehicle in the parking lot. The individual was identified as Pavel Mata who was transported to Four Corners ER where he was pronounced deceased. An autopsy was performed on Mr. Mata however a cause of death was undetermined pending toxicology testing.
On August 23rd 2021 toxicology testing returned indicating a lethal dose of Fentanyl was present in Mr. Mata’s blood; the cause of death was updated to indicate “Accidental”.
Detectives continued their lengthy investigation to include DNA testing and forensic digital searches. As a result it was learned that an individual named “Kevin” (who had been known to be present with Mr. Mata prior to his death) was in fact Kevin Richardson (06/01/1997). Surveillance video from the parking lot showed Mr. Richardson in the vehicle interacting with Mr. Mata. Mr. Richardson was located and interviewed by detectives at which time he admitted to obtaining what he claimed to be a Percocet pill from an unidentified drug dealer and provided it to Mr. Mata. Mr. Richardson stated that he observed Mr. Mata to need medical attention after ingesting the pill but claimed Mr. Mata declined; thereafter Mr. Richardson left Mr. Mata’s presence. According to detectives the alleged Percocet pill was likely counterfeited and contained a lethal dose of Fentanyl.
Detectives worked with the State Attorney’s Office to obtain a warrant for Mr. Richardson’s arrest. On November 2nd 2022 he was taken into custody and booked into the Lake County Jail with no bond.
Please see attached booking photo for Mr. Richardson and refer to www.lcso.org under “Search Inmates” for further information regarding Mr. Richardson.
