Facing rape charge, DJ Erick Morillo found dead in Miami Beach home. Cops probing overdose
Less than one month after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman, a famous Miami Beach DJ was found dead inside his home.
Miami Beach police said Tuesday that DJ Erick Morillo was found dead inside his LaGorce Drive home. Somebody called 911 at 10:42 a.m. after he was found in his bedroom. He was 49.
According to a law enforcement source, detectives are exploring whether he died of a possible drug overdose.
The popular DJ created the hit song “I Like to Move It,” which was later used in DreamWork’s Madagascar, a children’s movie from 2005. He has also toured the United States and has won several awards from the DJ Awards, including Best International DJ.
Morillo has a long and public history with drug abuse. He told the Miami New Times in 2016 that he three times he had to go to rehab for a ketamine.
Morillo, who was out on bond while awaiting trial, was scheduled to appear at a virtual arraignment later this week.
He was arrested last month on a sexual battery charge after a woman he met at a party in December reported him to Miami Beach police. The woman told police that Morillo made advances toward her, and then later, after she fell asleep on a bed, she woke up naked, according to an arrest report.
She was taken to the Roxcy Bolton Rape Treatment Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment and an evaluation. Officers identified his DNA from a rape kit taken at the center.
When he was arrested, his defense attorney, John Priovolos, said there was more to the story.
“It is important the public understands that the police report contains mere allegations and Mr. Morillo is presumed innocent,” Priovolos told the Herald. “There is more to the story than what is in the initial police report, and I look forward to sharing it.”
