OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — This is a story by our news partners at WESH 2 News in Orlando.
An Osceola County stepmother is facing charges after her husband's 5-year-old son drowned in a man-made ditch about two months ago.
According to records obtained by WESH 2, Cheyenne Star Fite, 25, was responsible for watching three kids on Oct. 11. as they played in the backyard shortly after hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The woman told investigators with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office that a family friend had come to the property earlier that day to dig a drainage ditch.
Officials say a 5-year-old in Fite's care drowned in that hole, which was then filled with runoff water from a nearby pigpen. According to the arrest affidavit, the seven-foot hole was filled with fecal matter and urine.
In her interview with investigators, the woman said she was in a trailer folding clothes when another child said the boy was "under the water." Fite claims she did not believe it and only found the boy after she realized he had been missing for a while.
The stepmom originally told investigators she was feet away when the incident occurred. However, the affidavit notes that the trailer was approximately a football field away from the hole.
When investigators arrived at the home around 5:30 p.m., the child was found unclothed and unconscious. The 5-year-old was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead.
In an interview days later, one of the children told investigators that the boy was naked as a form of punishment for "hurting a chicken earlier that day." According to the affidavit, the child also advised that Fite was inside sleeping when the drowning occurred.
In a subsequent interview, Fite claimed the child was naked because she was doing his laundry. Fite also insisted in this interview that she looked for the child as soon as the other child alerted her, though she looked near the man-made ditch last, records say.
According to the arrest affidavit, officials say Fite caused the death of the 5-year-old boy by culpable negligence when she failed to provide the child with care and supervision.
On Tuesday, documents were officially filed in the Osceola County clerk of court charging Fite with aggravated manslaughter of a child.
She is currently being held with no bond and is expected to be in court on Wednesday afternoon.
