A Coral Springs woman faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with a fatal overdose at the Ultra Music Festival 2025, marking a controversial application of Florida’s drug distribution law. Charlene Brittany Forti, 27, is accused of selling an MDMA pill that investigators say caused the death of Jenniha Le, 24, a nursing student from Lawrenceville, Georgia, who attended the Miami festival. Authorities indicate Forti faces a capital felony charge for first-degree murder related to Le’s death.
“It’s a selective accusation,” said Richard L. Cooper, Forti’s defense attorney. Prosecutors allege Le made a personal decision to consume the drug during the festival and died the following day after an adverse reaction. According to investigators, the pill passed through several people before reaching Le, creating a complex chain of distribution that forms the basis of the murder charge.
“The accusation is that my client gave pills to another person, who then gave them to another, and so on until that person died,” Cooper said. The charge relies on a Florida law that allows murder charges when someone illegally distributes a controlled substance that directly causes death, even without intent to kill. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle addressed the law this week, describing it as “a kind of strict liability murder.”
“You don’t have to prove that you intended for that person to die when you gave them the pills,” Fernandez Rundle said. “The law is clear: if you gave an illegal substance and they died as a result, it applies.” The statute represents Florida’s aggressive approach to combating drug-related deaths by holding distributors accountable for fatal outcomes, regardless of their intent to cause harm.
Investigators indicate Carmen Lo, along with Hannah Le-Nguyen, Le’s partner, and An Tan Ly, also 25, face related charges in connection with the death. The case highlights the legal complexities surrounding drug distribution chains at large music festivals, where substances often pass through multiple hands before reaching the final user. The Ultra Music Festival, held annually in Miami, attracts hundreds of thousands of attendees and has faced scrutiny over drug-related incidents in previous years.
The prosecution’s approach in this case could set a precedent for how Florida handles similar drug-related deaths at major events. Legal experts are closely watching the case as it tests the boundaries of the state’s strict liability murder statute in situations involving multiple distributors. The charge against Forti represents one of the most serious applications of the law in a festival setting, where the chain of distribution can involve numerous individuals.
The case is expected to proceed through Miami-Dade County courts, with defense attorneys likely to challenge the application of the murder statute in cases involving multiple distributors and personal choice by the victim.