Parents of drowned 4-year-old charged with negligent manslaughter

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The parents of a 4-year-old who drowned in a retention pond in March have been charged with negligent manslaughter after investigators alleged that the child’s father had been abusing drugs and the mother knew about this but left the child with his father and also left the door unlocked. The parents had previously filed a wrongful death lawsuit against various individuals and businesses associated with the shopping plaza where the child drowned, stating that a lack of automatic door locks and a fence around the pond had “directly and proximately” led to the child’s drowning.

Gainesville Police Department officers responded to a report of a missing child on March 2, 2023, and later found the body of Kash Waylen Hodges in a retention pond behind a shopping plaza at 6200 NW 26th Street. Attempts to revive the child were unsuccessful.

Gabriel Waylen Hodges, 28, and Taychianna Dazja Figueroa, 27, lived with Kash in the back room of a pet grooming salon where Figueroa worked. At about 4:23 p.m. on March 2, Figueroa left the business through the front door and reportedly did not lock the door behind her despite having a key to that door. Figueroa reportedly told investigating officers that Hodges and their son were asleep when she left to get food.

Surveillance cameras show her leaving and then reportedly show the child walking out of the same unlocked door, 15 minutes later. The cameras show the child wandering around the back of the shopping plaza; about 10 minutes later, the child can be seen running toward the retention pond and falling into the pond.

The child was not located until 5:27 p.m. and was found by the owner of another business in the plaza.

The owner of the pet grooming business reportedly told an officer that she believed Hodges was abusing drugs and specifically remembered that two weeks before the drowning, the child was screaming because he could not find his mother and the business owner was shocked that Hodges did not wake up because the screaming was so loud it could be heard outside the business.

Consent to search the room where the family lived was obtained, and officers reportedly found a baggie containing a white crystalline powdery substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, along with marijuana and various drug paraphernalia on a table; they also reportedly found white powder next to a rolled-up dollar bill in a drawer.

An officer reported that during a conversation with Hodges on the night of the drowning, the officer learned that Hodges has been addicted to “downers” since he was a teenager; the officer noted that Hodges appeared to be impaired during the interaction, with glassy eyes and slow movements and speech.

Hodges reportedly provided blood and urine samples, and the results were positive for methamphetamine.

Investigators concluded: “The negligence of both [Hodges] and [Figueroa] led to the death of [the child].”

Both parents have been charged via sworn complaint with negligent manslaughter of a child; warrants have not yet been issued for their arrests.

Two sworn complaints were filed against Figueroa in May after the owner of the pet grooming business alleged that Figueroa had obtained her own card reader and had swiped a client’s credit card and kept the money; after the business owner discovered the theft, she reportedly gave Figueroa and Hodges one day to move out, and Figueroa allegedly stole $874 in merchandise and equipment when she left. Both charges were dropped in early June. A third sworn complaint that alleges Figueroa took cash from a client as payment and did not turn it over to the business owner is still pending.

Figueroa has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the pet grooming business owner and others, claiming that the business owner removed a security feature that kept the front door locked at all times, which “created unsafe conditions for the occupants of said property” and “[n]egligently failed to re-install the security system” despite repeated requests from Figueroa. The complaint also asserts that the owners and management of the shopping plaza “failed to enforce the installation and maintenance of door locking systems” and negligently failed “to install a fence around lakes, bodies of water, and retention ponds.” The complaint asserts that “The negligence alleged above directly and proximately caused the subject [sic] drown and, consequently, KASH WAYLAN HODGES’s death… [and] As a direct and proximate result of the foregoing negligence, KASH WAYLAN HODGES was killed” and the child’s estate suffered damages including medical and funeral expenses. Figueroa was appointed by the Court as personal representative for her son’s estate for the purpose of collecting any funds awarded in the lawsuit.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.