PLANTATION, Fla. – Documents newly obtained by Local 10 News revealed the cause of death for a well-known Broward Sheriff’s Office homicide detective.
Local 10 News has also learned that a fellow detective is the subject of at least two investigations apparently connected to the sergeant’s death.
Sgt. Kevin Forsberg served with BSO for a little more than two decades and appeared on the hit A&E crime series “The First 48.” The 53-year-old was found unresponsive in a Plantation apartment on Jan. 27.
Sheriff Gregory Tony announced Forsberg’s death on social media then, but there had been no information released on how he died until now.
An autopsy report signed by the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office on March 3 revealed his cause of death: acute fentanyl toxicity.
His manner of death was ruled an accident. It was undetermined how it got into his body.
Employees Local 10 News spoke to within the Broward Sheriff’s Office said they were shocked and disappointed after learning the longtime investigator’s cause of death.
Autopsy report:
Forsberg, who took the stand during the trial of the Parkland school shooter, was found on the bathroom floor of the apartment and pronounced dead at the scene by Plantation Fire Rescue paramedics, according to the medical examiner’s report.
Local 10 News has learned that a fellow homicide detective has been suspended with pay since February, apparently in connection to the case: Deputy Bozena Gajda-Morales, also known as “Jo-Jo.”
She is the focus of a BSO internal affairs investigation and sources said she is also the focus of a homicide investigation by the Plantation Police Department.
According to a medical examiner’s investigation report, Gajda-Morales, who lives in the same apartment complex, discovered Forsberg after he didn’t answer her calls.
Investigation report:
According to a sheriff’s office memo, in February, a month after Forsberg’s body was found, Gajda-Morales was suspended for “reasonable suspicion drug test.” Sources said she tested positive for an illegal substance.
Then, in March, she was notified she was under an internal affairs investigation for conduct unbecoming of an employee and abuse of the department’s alcohol and drug use policy.
Gajda-Morales has been with the sheriff’s office for nine years. According to the investigative report, on the day Forsberg died, the two of them were working in the crime lab, searching a vehicle that was found to have narcotics inside.
“Deputy Morales is not permitted to comment on active investigations,” Gary Celetti, Gajda-Morales’ attorney, said in a statement to Local 10 News. “Deputy Morales is mourning the loss of Sergeant Forsberg and she is expecting to return to full duty as soon as possible.”
Suspension documents:
Sources told Local 10 News that Gajda-Morales may have called Forsberg’s son and BSO detectives before calling 911.
Forsberg left behind three grown children.
In his biography on the A&E website, Forsberg said: “I take pride in doing my work (...) even if the intense subject matter wears on me.”
“Forsberg says that the worst part of the job is seeing the emotional pain the victim’s family members suffer after the loss of a loved one,” the biography reads, in part.
BSO and Plantation police would not comment on the ongoing investigation.
Toxicology report: