Can you call us getting down? What happened last night? Why didn't you call us? I'm freaked out. I don't know. Sunday, June 23rd, 2024, Flaggler County, Florida. Police receive a call from a man reporting that his niece's daughter had to be rushed to the hospital while visiting her father's home. The situation was alarming as it appeared the child's condition might be due to the father's actions. Authorities needed to determine exactly what had happened. Had the father done something wrong? I'm Tyler and this is your daily dose of crime. Howdy. How are you? We have to figure out what happened that we went to a hospital. So what what happened? I was in my living room watching TV. I was flat out with you. I was about to roll up the blunt. Uh-huh. And I stopped, set it down, went and took a quick Okay. And she ate it. Was this I know it comes in various strains. What kind of strain are we talking here? Like one of those high THC ones. I don't know. Just some like is it a medical type like the kind you get from those doctors and stuff that are like professionally? No, this is half brown. How how big was this one? Probably about a gram. Okay. What time was that? That was probably about 7:30 8 and I noticed about 8:30 real stiff. So that's when I called her mom, got her in the truck, and hauled ass up to Why didn't you call us like an ambulance? I thought I get there faster. I didn't Jacksonville. No, no, I went to um Flaggler and we were there till probably 11:12 and then we got transported to Jacksonville. Oh, okay. Yeah. I I went I went straight to the by the Flagler bridge. Oh, I thought you went to Jacksonville or something. No, no, I would have definitely called you. So about an hour after all that happened, you what what were you thinking when like you went to the bathroom and it's gone when you come back? Has this ever happened before? The child's father, identified as Cody Spiegel Halter, gave his account of the incident to officers. According to him, he was home with his 15-month-old daughter when the incident occurred. He said he was watching television and rolling a joint. And at some point, he got up to go to the bathroom, leaving it on the living room table. In that brief moment, his daughter approached the table and ate the marijuana joint. Spiegel Halter clearly did not know how to handle the situation, and officers were visibly concerned with what they were hearing. How could any father be so careless with his child? Do you watch? Huh? Daughter, right? Yes, sir. You watch her often? On the weekends? Yeah. Is that where your custody is or like weekend custody? No, we we don't have a custody. It's just her mom lives in Jacksonville, so that's where she goes to daycare and then I just get her on the weekends. There's there's no child support custody. You're not marry or nothing? No. No. Going to jail, aren't I? I mean, I I don't make that decision, but we're here to try and figure out why a one-year-old's in the hospital. So, we have to figure out what's going on with all that. How much more marijuana is here? I threw it all away. To be honest with you, after seeing that, I don't give a about smoking that anymore. I I don't give a about it. That How come I I just don't get why you didn't call us at all. Even if you thought you'd get to the hospital first, like even on the way like, "Hey, kid's going through something. I don't know what it is." Like I I wasn't I freaking out. I just I I got in the truck and I [ __ ] ass out there. And it's 7:30. And what time did you get to the hospital? I want to say I I I noticed they're doing this around 8:30 and that's when I I was probably at the hospital by 9:00. 25 30 minute drive from here. Something wasn't right. I How many pe How many kids you got in here? Huh? Any other kids here? No, not right now. They're with their I got two kids total and they're both with their one's in the hospital. Who just left? Who just left? Huh? That was a girl I talked to. She took me home from Jacksonville. My truck was in Flat Flaggler. I rode in the ambulance in Jacksonville. So, she brought me back here. Oh. So, is that your girlfriend? We're talking. We're not not defined. Yeah. Yeah. Everything's talking. So, you have a baby mama that's not in a relationship, but you have a kid a kid in common. Yeah. Yeah. And this is a different girl. Yeah. That's fine. I just want to make sure I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Yeah. No. No. Me and the daughter's mom are not together anymore. But you get along? Yeah, absolutely. Okay. All righty. Um, no other here. No. Do you mind if we check the house? Make sure everything else Can we walk through and make sure you got grab my dog and put them in the pin real quick? That's fine. Making sure you got food, water, all that stuff that you're supposed to have for children. Well, I need to go grocery shopping right now. Well, I mean, we're not if you're if you got a food, that's we get it. Like people go through cycles. It's not infinite supply. That makes sense. Let me grab Okay. He is standing here looking at me. So, all right. It's too late now. Meditating. Oh, yeah. He said 7:30 something. He was rolling up a blunt to smoke. He had to go take a went in the bathroom and took a while. The tip was gone or while he was going. Cody appeared to be genuinely distressed while speaking to police, but his actions or lack thereof would reveal a troubling level of irresponsibility. Something did not sit right with the officers. They had to check the living conditions to assess whether this was a tragic accident or a case of serious neglect. Any weapons or anything that we're worried about? What's that in the safe? Okay. You have running water, electricity, all that. You mind like pointing it out how it all went down? The road traffic doesn't give you up. You get used to it after a few years. Except for when them old clapped out trucks go by. They'll wake you up. Is this your property? Was it uh parents given to you? was my dad's, but he killed himself in 2019 and I just took over the payment. I feel like I remember this. Bob Spiegel Halter. Robert Spiegel Halter maybe. He had a couple incidences, didn't he? Of attempts or something. I have no idea. He was Was he Baker active before? I don't think so. Nothing that I know of. Maybe it was that guy. Yeah, there's someone. There's an older guy back here somewhere. Lady over there and he had some problems going on for a while. Yeah, was it? Okay. I hadn't been over there in forever either. Wow. The construction give you a problem with that loud construction? It ain't too bad. I know when they were repaving the road back that way. It was backed up like this. And I remember I sat in front of my grandpa's driveway right there for 30 minutes waiting to pull in right here. Nobody let you. Welcome to I was I was coming this way and now the car was just blowing going. That was aggravating. I got mad. They only did half the road, didn't they? Yeah, they stopped right at the bridge. That's weird. They're probably waiting on the roundabout to finish. Well, I think they repaved all that up there, though. I don't know. I know they added like or something. They're doing some weird stuff about I don't know why they're doing one there. They're putting their things in everywhere around here. Uh it's the third one recently. I know there's one going forward up US US1. Then they had the one out Dixie now. Yeah. Yeah, that one too. That one has a lot of little accidents. It kind of seems like the semiis flipping over and whatnot. Really? I didn't notice that. I know that you get some random ones like bike week of bikes ramping up it by going 100, but I I don't remember any semiis. I know they it's really tight for them to try and go around uh like that curve. They go up on the shoulder a lot, but it doesn't matter what you do, people are going to die. All right, Cody. Um while one officer continues to speak with Cody to gather more information, others began inspecting the residents to evaluate the overall environment. With a more full view of the home, it became clear that this was more than an accident. The scene showed obvious signs of neglect. The house was filthy and both the father and child were living in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. But what exactly had officers discovered? You read it. I'm going to read you something this time. Okay. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say may be as evidence against you. You talk to an attorney. Have him present now or anytime during questioning. Got a for attorney. Won't be appointed representing you. If anytime you wish to stop talking, you have your attorney present. I question you guys. I know you kind of briefly explain to this deputy here on what happened. Um, can you kind of just give me a rundown what happened last night? Honestly, there watching TV in that first room on the left. Yeah, I rolled one up. I didn't finish rolling it. [Applause] bathroom. I had to go. I had to go. I run late. Come back and eat all of it. How much? Huh? How much? Probably about half out of like, you know, a gram or something. So, about She just about half of Yeah, give or take. And And she's a month, a year and a half old. Yeah. How how heavy is she? Oh god. She's not the big She's not a big kid. Um that's a lot of for a little kid. I come [Applause] back and everything's all right for a minute. Then I kind of see she's just seems lost and clenched up. So I I called her mom and got her in the truck and bought out to the hospital up there. Why didn't you call us? I freaked out and I don't know. Uh, by the time y'all get out here, I'd be out there. I don't know, man. You didn't even notify us at all. I got to the hospital and told them what happened. No, I shouldn't have to come here looking for you. Want to talk to you about something that happened last night, which still to this to this point in the hospital. You still haven't even tried to bother us to call law enforcement any sort of way. Your uncle had to call us. As a father, you should be the one. You're you're the caregiver for that child. That is your responsibility and your sole responsibility. If something happens to that child on your behalf and you think something's wrong, you are the first people you should call. We have stations all around here. The problem is we still didn't even call that hospital. I don't know, man. I freaking out the whole night. What's the deal with the What's the deal with the loose everywhere? You got loose all around the house, man. Well, don't clean up that. You got a baby crib inside of your bedroom. You got a blunt half smoking blunt on the nightstand. Two of them. You got loose grinder residue all over the the countertop on top of dog feces everywhere. God, dog piss everywhere. I ain't been home. Hey, but if if you're going to have a child here, I know that you should clean up after yourself. And I have not been home. This is not that's this is not a liveable environment for a child to be in at any at any point in time. Dog feces, urine, and other waste were scattered throughout the house. Traces of were found in multiple areas, and there was a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms and THC wax visible and within the reach of the child. Officers confronted Cody with what they had found. He had no valid explanation and his attempts to justify the situation fell flat. How could anyone live like that, let alone raise a child in those conditions? So, right now in the house for child, [Music] huh? if you could next door or just go right in front of my truck straight back. There's a gate. But look, he I have to move him like Oh, that dog. Yeah. Yeah. We're talking about that dog and that dog because obviously you're not going to need to figure out who can be able to take care of the animals. Other than that, at least bring them food and water and all that. Other than that, we need climate control. So your grandfather's next door? Yeah. Go right in front of my truck. The first house. You You'll literally when you go through that gate, you'll walk through the yard. What's your name? Richard. Can you do a good search on him, sir? Get you over here. The vehicle. I get you to spread your feet apart. All right. Step forward. Anything in any pockets that can poke me or stick me? No. You have any other in there besides? When was the last time you used? No. Never. No. You didn't overdose last year? I thought I did, but I didn't. I had a drunk panic attack. You had a drunk panic attack. Okay. That's pretty different than an overdose. Well, you know, be honest. I was still drunk. I had one last few months and I started freaking out. I thought I was overdosing. I don't know. I don't do that [ __ ] What's the call shredded tin foil on the floor? Do you ever been to the wandering hood? Step back over here so we can open that door. The easiest if you turn your butt towards the seat first. There you go. Got it. All right. Do you mind if I reach around and grab the seat belt so I can both All right. Hello. How you doing, sir? Is that your nephew that lives right there? Cody, Cody, your nephew or your grandson? Cody? Cody? Cody? Yeah. Yeah. Uh, do you know what's going on with him? Huh? Do you know what's going on with him? All right. He's being taken into custody right now. Um, we're trying to find somebody that can feed the dogs, give him water, and stuff while he's gone. Okay. What happened? Huh? What happened? Uh, his child was taken to the hospital because the kid ate, so I had a seizure. So, he's going to jail for child neglect. Um, probably possession, too. I'm imagining if they collected it. No, they didn't. I don't think they collected. We'll take care of them. Well, one of the dogs is outside in the cage and one's inside. Do you have a way to get in the house to give him water and stuff? Uh, I don't know anymore. Uh, we used to have keys to the place, but Okay. All right. I don't think he really locks it. Okay. Are you willing to take care of the dogs for them? Yeah. I don't know when they ate last for anything here. Eat free. All right. 311 on three. Yeah, no problem. This is either that or he's going to phone going animal control. So, can you ask Cody when the dogs so we can tell the grandfather? No, we take care of Okay. He could be out by the car end of the night. Can you tell me the time the dogs eat and where the food is and stuff? What happened? Did your grandson Cody? Yeah. He's being placed under arrest. Um, this child hates him with his on last night and had a seizure. So, he's being charged with child. Yeah, he admitted it to he has all all over the house just spread out all over the place, but they can get all over. So, it's an unliving environment over there. So, for a child, so he'd be in charge of childhood. He said his dog trying to see who else we would contact cup in the morning and night food on the counter. I don't know who Jonathan is. So friend's a friend that stays with him too. Yeah, she that's when you stop. That was her name was his girlfriend. Yeah, she stays down here around now and then, I guess. Um, he has they he gives him a cup of food in the morning and a cup of food at night and the dog food's on the counter. Okay. Yeah, we'll take care. All right. If you're not able to, just let us know. We can have someone come get the dogs. Okay. We'll take care of them. All righty. No problem, guys. Thank you. Appreciate it. Cody Spiegel Halter was placed in handcuffs and informed that he was being arrested for child neglect. He did not resist and cooperated fully, knowing that his 15-month-old daughter was hospitalized because of his own actions. Depending on the details of the case and his prior record, potential consequences could include prison time, probation, or court-ordered restitution.