OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A woman is facing a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child in the drowning death of her 5-year-old stepson.
"This is an arrest warrant case in which probable cause has already been determined," said a judge in Osceola County Wednesday afternoon during the first appearance for 25-year-old Cheyenne Star Fite.
Detectives say her negligence directly led to the boy’s death.
Riley Hogeback drowned Oct. 11, after being pulled from a water-filled ditch on the family property.
Fite was arrested on a warrant Tuesday.
“'We love you.' Those were the last words I heard from Riley and the other two (children),” David Hogeback recalled for WESH 2 Investigates during an exclusive interview Wednesday. He’s also the father of a 3-year-old boy along with Fite.
Her 5-year-old daughter from a prior relationship also lives on the property.
David Hogeback says the Department of Children and Families has taken custody of the younger boy and Fite's daughter, while the case is being sorted out. From Chopper 2, you could see an area of freshly-turned dirt on the family’s five acre property on north Kenansville Road in St. Cloud.
There was a water-filled ditch approximately 10 by 15 feet and seven feet deep the day Riley drowned. Now, next to it, is a small memorial made of rocks that spells out Riley’s name. The ditch was dug to relieve flooding on the property following Hurricane Milton.
David Hogeback says Fite was supervising the three children while he was at work.
According to the arrest warrant, obtained by WESH 2 Investigates, the "drainage ditch (was) near a pig pen."
It contained "run-off water (with) fecal matter and urine." Floating in the ditch was a "green child-size boogie board."
Fite told detectives she was folding clothes inside the home when her daughter ran inside to say Riley was under the water in the ditch. Fite told detectives that she pulled the boy from the water and after talking with her mother, called 911. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The boy was found naked, with the mother telling deputies the reason, was because she was washing his dirty clothes. But in the arrest affidavit, Fite’s daughter told a detective during an interview at the Child Advocacy Center in Kissimmee, that "(her brother) was naked while playing outside as a form of punishment because he was hurting a chicken earlier that day." The girl also said "her mother was in her bed sleeping" at the time of the drowning.
An emotional David Hogeback told WESH 2 Investigates, “My son has lost his life, he could not live his life out. I prefer her to be in prison for every day he is not able to be here on this earth.”
Detectives later searched Fite's home and reported that they found "knives, rusted metal, rat/livestock feces, and scrap metal pieces that were considered hazardous for children."
David Hogeback continued, “It has cost me a mental breakdown that I am dealing with, because there isn't an amount of money out there, there isn't anything out there that can bring him (Riley) back.”
Fite is being held without bond on the aggravated manslaughter charge, pending a hearing Thursday morning.
The Florida Department of Children and Families is so far not commenting on the status of the two children in state custody.
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