TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The trial has been delayed for a stepdad accused of killing his five-year-old stepdaughter Missy Mogle last year in Tallahassee.
Thursday morning, a judge granted a request to delay Daniel Spencer’s trial to February. The trial was originally set to begin in less than four weeks on September 22.
However, both sides said they needed more time to prepare.
Daniel Spencer is facing several charges, including murder, in connection to the 2025 death of Missy. He and Missy’s mother, Chloe Spencer, are accused of killing the young girl by asphyxiation in May 2025 at a southeast Tallahassee home.
(Leon County Jail)
A trial date for Chloe Spencer is still pending, but both could face the death penalty if convicted.
The trial delay comes nearly two months after Daniel Spencer’s defense team tried to have a key piece of evidence against him thrown out, his tablet.
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His defense team argued that his tablet and phone were taken before a search warrant was authorized. However, a police detective testified that he believes the stepdad was trying to delete video footage from the baby monitor app.
The judge ultimately ruled that it was reasonable for the detective to take Daniel Spencer’s phone and tablet with the belief that he could have been trying to delete evidence.
The community was taken aback by the young girl’s death but also by Circuit Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper’s decision to release the stepdad on bond after his conviction in a child sex crime sting. At the time of the 5-year-old’s death, Daniel Spencer was out on bail as he awaited sentencing on a charge of traveling to meet a minor.
Missy’s death also sparked the creation and signing of Missy’s Law, which mandates judges revoke a person’s bond if they have been convicted of dangerous crimes, including sex offenses.
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