Mother and stepfather of girl who died after alleged abuse charged with murder
The mother and stepfather of a 5-year-old girl who died after they allegedly subjected her to horrendous abuse have been charged with murder.
Daniel Spencer, 35, and Chloe Spencer, 23, were arrested on aggravated battery of a child and other charges on the day of Missy Mogle's death. They pleaded not guilty and were ordered held in the Leon County Detention Facility without bond.
On Monday, May 27, Assistant State Attorney Adrian Mood filed an information upgrading their charges to second-degree murder.
"The autopsy hasn't been completed yet, but we've discussed with law enforcement and the medical examiner, and based on what we've received, the cause of death is homicide," Mood told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Tallahassee police were called to the Spencers' home in Southwood on the morning of May 19 after Missy Mogle stopped breathing, according to arrest reports. She was taken to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, where she was pronounced dead.
Missy was found with injuries 'from head to toe,' including ligature marks around her wrists and burns on her fingers, according to a confidential Florida Department of Children and Families report obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat.
Officers seized memory cards from in-home surveillance cameras showing Daniel Spencer hitting Missy and binding her hands and feet together, according to arrest reports.
Missy's loved ones said she was raised by her grandparents in Wakulla County for most of her life before a judge granted custody to Chloe Spencer. The Spencers were residing at a house owned by a retired Tallahassee physician, who alerted investigators to the surveillance cameras.
Both Chloe Spencer and Daniel Spencer are scheduled to have pretrial detention hearings, though on different dates and before different judges. Chloe Spencer will appear May 30 before Leon Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh; Daniel Spencer will appear June 6 before Leon Circuit Judge Tiffany Carper-Baker.
Check back with Tallahassee.com for more on this developing new story.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee stepfather, mom charged with murder in girl's abuse death
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