A Tallahassee couple is facing child abuse charges following the death of their 5-year-old daughter, police said.
Officers responded to reports of an unresponsive child who had stopped breathing just before 8 a.m. on May 19.
First responders found Missy Mogle’s grandfather performing CPR on her and noted “suspicious bruising and injury patterns” to the child’s body.
Missy was declared dead at a hospital, and an autopsy revealed that she was malnourished.
Her mother, 23-year-old Chloe Spencer, and stepfather, 35-year-old Daniel Spencer, claimed that the girl suffered from “behavioral issues” and would hold her breath to manipulate them, which she did before her death.
But security cameras in Missy’s bedroom showed Spencer “physically abusing the girl by hitting her, violently pulling her arms, shoving her face into a bed, binding her feet and hands together, and covering her with pillows and comforters.”
Other photos allegedly showed Chloe “standing over her daughter who was on her bed in the fetal position, while Chloe held an object over her head as she was preparing to strike her with the object.”
The mother later admitted she struck the girl with a shoe. The couple has since been charged with several offenses, including second-degree murder and aggravated battery on a child.
