Cape Coral man faces first-degree murder charges in fentanyl deaths; survivor shares warning

A Cape Coral man accused of selling fentanyl-laced drugs that killed two people and nearly killed a third is now facing first-degree murder charges.

WINK News spoke exclusively with the woman who survived. She says she thought she was using cocaine — but what she got nearly cost her life.

Maria says she unknowingly bought cocaine laced with fentanyl on Palm Tree Boulevard in Cape Coral. Within seconds of using it at home, she was fighting for her life.

“I remember doing cocaine, and then not even moments later, I'm like, ‘Oh, my head feels really weird. Let me just like, lay down real quick,’ and then just black after that,” Maria said.

She told WINK News the night turned terrifying almost instantly. After losing consciousness, she did not wake up on her own.

“My mom said she came in and saw that I was blue. She tried waking me up,” Maria said.

It took three doses of Narcan to revive her.

“That one hit of cocaine, and that was it. My life was basically done until they decided to Narcan me a third time and I came back,” she said.

Maria later learned the cocaine had been laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that can be deadly even in small amounts.

“That was so scary because it makes you realize, like it can just be in anything,” she said.

Investigators say the drugs came from Vadim Manofov of Cape Coral. Manofov now faces two counts of first-degree murder after two people died. He is also charged with unlawful distribution of fentanyl resulting in overdose in connection to Maria’s case.

State Attorney Amira Fox addressed the growing fentanyl crisis during a press conference.

“Our law enforcement cares about you. They put their resources into tackling this fentanyl crisis that we have seen in this area,” Fox said.

Maria says surviving the overdose changed her life. She has been sober since June 2024.

“What changed for me? Well, dying, basically. That’s what changed,” she said. “It made me realize how much it can end in a second.”

Now living back home in New York and surrounded by family, Maria says she hopes sharing her story will serve as a warning to others about the dangers of experimenting with hard drugs.

“They don’t care about you. They just want to make money and they’ll kill you doing it,” she said. “So it’s not worth it. Absolutely not worth it.”

As Manofov’s case moves through the court system, Maria hopes her survival story can prevent someone else from becoming the next victim.