Arizona man who cops initially believed died from heart issue on Florida vacation was murdered, suspect arrested

Two people are under arrest in connection to a man on vacation in Florida whose death was at first believed to be the result of natural causes but is now classified as murder.

In October, Tyrell Sagg, 41, was staying in a Panama City Beach, Florida, hotel with his girlfriend, Didda Johnson, 34, as well as Scottie Black, 40, WJHG-TV reported.

During the trip, police responded to a call about an unresponsive man in the group’s room and found Sagg dead. According to investigators, Black and Johnson claimed Sagg must have died sometime during the night from an underlying heart condition he suffered.

An autopsy, however, later determined Sagg’s probable cause of death was strangulation, but by the time officers had the results, Johnson and Black had already returned to their homes in Arizona.

In January, Panama City Beach Police Department detectives traveled from Florida to Arizona to question the pair. According to authorities, during questioning, Sagg’s girlfriend, Johnson, linked Black to her boyfriend's death. She also allegedly admitted she used Sagg’s debit card after he died and said she lied to detectives.

Black, police said, allegedly confessed to them that he killed Sagg after the two got into a fight in their hotel room and he then used the dead man’s debit card to pay for his and Johnson’s trip back home to Arizona.

Panama City police charged Black with an open count of murder and fraudulent use of a credit card and he was being held at the Bay County Jail after turning himself in, the Panama City News Herald reported.

According to the outlet, officers also obtained an arrest warrant for Johnson, who is accused of accessory after-the-fact to murder, fraudulent use of a credit card, and providing false information to law enforcement.