Who's doing chest compressions? Keep on with the chest compressions. Give us mask. Come on, buddy. Please don't give up now. Come on, buddy. Come on. Give us a mask. He's got to breathe. >> A child has been pulled from the water after a drowning incident. Officers are doing everything they can to save him, but the situation is escalating. The mother's cries echo through the scene, making it clear just how quickly everything is falling apart. >> Please Oh my god. We don't ever have my son outside by himself. This never happens. I don't know I don't know how he got outside. Please help me. He's on the verge of my baby. >> It all starts on March 2nd, 2023 in Gainesville, Florida when officers respond to a call from a shopping plaza on Northwest 23rd Street involving a child. A couple had been staying there with their 4-year-old autistic son. While the mother steps out to get food, the child wanders off and drowns in a nearby retention pond. Nearly 40 minutes later, the father finds him. Cops rush there at once, fear mounting, clinging to the faint hope that they are not already too late. But with a howling mother, it is a nightmare coming true. >> Do you have any idea how long he was in there? >> No. He was asleep. He was asleep when he got out I can't breathe. I don't even know how he got outside. Please. Please. Please. Please bring him back. My boy, come on. Bring back my mama. Come on. Come on. Come on. >> Just stay here. >> Come on, son. Please come back. Please. Please bring my son back. Please Oh my god. Please bring him back alive. Please. >> The whole situation is unsettling, but in that moment, the focus narrows to just one thing, the possibility that the child can still be saved. He is soon identified as 4-year-old Cash Wyland Hodges. >> Who's his chest compressions? Keep on with the chest compressions. You got his mask? >> Come on, buddy. >> Come on. >> You got the mask? >> He's got it right. >> I don't know if it was from me running but he did some water came out of him while I was running. >> It was all sucked full of water in his lungs. >> There on the side. >> He fell in? >> Yeah. >> Is the back of him more flat? >> Pull him a little bit down. Get him flat. >> Lower him on the back. Did you ever get a pulse on him? >> No. >> Can I buy your hands to tilt his chin up? >> Yep. >> Even though officers give it everything, there is still no sign of breathing in Cash. He is rushed to the hospital in a final attempt to save him. In the meantime, officers attempt to speak with his mother, Tashauna Dasja Figaro, to understand what exactly happened. But her visibly shaken state makes it clear she may not be in a condition to be questioned right now. >> Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, god. >> [gasps] >> Babe, babe, I want to ask my poor baby. >> [screaming] >> OH, MY GOD. PLEASE. OH, MY GOD. DO THEY feel a pulse, anything? Please tell me. Please, bring him back alive. Oh, my god. He knows to stay away from water. I didn't see him. I didn't see him. My son. >> I want her to just name on the pond and then we need to get 10-12 with whoever the kid's parents are and walk out of the house with you. >> Please don't tell me he's not alive. He's my my baby. HE'S NOT BREATHING. PLEASE. HE JUST TURNED 4. OH MY GOODNESS. OH. >> MA'AM, I need you to give me your full name and your date of birth. I guess so. >> He's telling me my son is gay. >> I can't say that. What is his name and date of >> Please. >> Sandra Lee >> He's Please tell me he's okay. >> Ma'am, we're going to figure it out, okay? We're going to work it out. They're going to work on him, okay? THEY'RE WORKING ON HIM. GIVE THEM SOME TIME, all right? >> What do you What do you mean? What do you mean? I was pumping his chest. The water was coming out, but he said he was coming. Please tell me he's okay. >> [crying] >> He's going to the hospital. >> Is it too late? >> I know that's terrifying to hear. >> You said you went to the store real quick? >> I went to go get food. >> You went to get food? >> Yeah. I really go for like 10, 15 minutes. Listen. Listen, we don't ever have my son outside by himself. This never happens. I don't know I don't know how he got out. I was like He was Yeah, he was asleep. And my son was sleeping on the couch. I don't know how. Please, it's not our fault. We don't do this. My son is very taken care of. I watch my son every day. He's with me every day. I would never put my son in this position. >> Of course. >> I swear. I swear. Please. >> Please. >> He can't breathe. >> From her broken statement, given through tears, officers pieced together one thing. Cash and his father, Gabriel Wayland Hodges, had been sleeping together when this horrible incident took place. They moved to take the parents to the hospital, but even as officers tried to help, the weight of it all is overwhelming. >> You want to You want to walk to the car? So we can get ready to go to the go to the hospital. >> I see his eyes are there. >> You want to get some shoes? Want to tell him to get some shoes? >> Yeah. Oh, baby. Oh, baby. They would have saw him. That's a shoplifter in the corner. That's what I'm saying. There's all these There's people right there. They would have saw him. They would have saw him. They would have saw him. >> I put him up. I put my car over here. >> Oh my god. I failed my child. I failed my baby, no. I failed my And I failed my son. Oh my god. Protect him. I protect him, too. I protect my baby. I always protect my baby. I'M NOT GOING TO PROTECT him this time. I feel so stupid. >> Before leaving, both Taeshina and Gabriel returned to their residence, which is also their shop, to gather their things. Something that at the time seems completely ordinary to the officers. But, it doesn't stay that way for long. Later on, officers are going to find something that would break the case open. >> The back door is locked. That's what I'm talking about. There's no one in here. I'll get my shoes. >> Yeah, we are talking anime and games. >> Okay. >> Get your shoes. >> [sighs and gasps] >> Are you kidding me? The back door is And Gabe was like, "I don't understand how he got out." I don't understand. I I DON'T THE DOG IS NOT A GAME WITH LOCK. THE BACK DOOR WAS LOCKED. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW HE GOT OUT. I DON'T UNDERSTAND. I SWEAR. THE LIGHTS THE BACK DOOR WAS LOCKED. THE GATE WAS LOCKED. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW HE GOT OUT. HE WAS out in the >> Just as officers prepare to leave for the hospital, an unknown woman walks up to the shop. She is identified as Celeste, the owner of the property. In that moment, nothing about her stands out, but soon she will become a crucial part of the investigation. >> On 19671. He had a He had the extra but when she started working for me like 2 months almost 2 months ago, I told him to go ahead and give her the key because she was going to be working in the shop and then then but then I had had breast cancer surgery in in January. So, I was going to be down anyway. So, she was working the shop because it was easier for her to have her son here because he's autistic. So, you know, and so and then and then everything's been fine until she finally answered the phone cuz she had came back in. I called her to see how today was. And um she had checkers in her hand and I said, "Oh." She said, "Yeah, I just stepped out to go get checkers." And um gave him a cash at the shop. And I said, "Okay." And she walks in and she's like, "Where's Cash?" So, I I dropped my trailer at home and came straight here. And she I kept calling her, you know, "Did you find him?" And then she finally answered and was crying and >> [sighs] >> Sorry. >> By the time they get there, their worst fear comes true. The one everyone had been hoping to avoid. Cash doesn't make it. And just like that, everything changes. A mother is left without her only son. >> He just gave me kisses this morning. I was just I put HIM FOR A NAP. I JUST I was just worried about him. I'm never going to see his smile again. No. This is not how No. No. No. Oh, no. The last but The camera Oh, oh, no. I'd do anything for another day. Please, God. The last Oh, my God. I I don't even know what he was thinking. No. Oh, no. No. No. Thank God. Please. We did everything we can for him. Even when we had nothing. Even when we were moving from place to place. I made sure I made sure his smile I mean his smile every day. I took I took everything I did everything right. I No. No. No. This No. This is not fair. This is not This is not fair. It's not fair. I would I blame myself. That's the problem. I blame myself. >> [snorts] >> Oh my god. >> The room fills with nothing but a mother's heartbreaking wails. Gabriel, on the other hand, is just as shaken, but holding himself together slightly better. >> I can't talk to my mom right now. She's going to have a loser over me. >> Do you want me to call her away from you? >> Yeah. Tell her that he's going to die. >> Call her away from you. >> [laughter] >> Just tell her that I need her to go to Florida now. I need my mommy. He was like a daddy. He loved both of us so much. I can't even imagine what he was thinking. Baby. Gabriel, baby. Uh-oh. What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? Oh. Oh, no. What am I supposed to do? >> [snorts] >> I really lost the dog. I lost the dog. I swear. >> This is now a death investigation, and the truth can no longer wait. Officers begin gathering anything that could help, starting with CCTV footage from nearby areas. What shows up in those recordings is so shattering, it's even hard to watch for the officers. >> He's 45. >> Yeah. >> 37. >> Just play it from here. >> Oh, I see he went I think he went back in. >> Yeah. [snorts] >> But it's down here. With >> Boom. >> Dylan's 47. >> 16. >> 48. >> 18. >> I'm going to pause right there so y'all can >> 48. >> Yeah. >> 48 and 18. >> And he fell in here, but he was found down there. >> Yeah, so Valerie is trying to get out. >> That's her off. >> Yeah, I know. >> You see You see he comes out, he comes back in, and he comes out. >> 2 5 16 at 4:48. >> Yeah. >> So he He comes out. He comes out first at 16:45 on the camera. >> Okay. >> And then he comes back. And then he reemerges at 16:47 and at 16:48. But he's got it paused in there, so if y'all we >> Last time I watched it, I wasn't able to watch it. >> Yeah, don't watch it. >> And so Um Dylan was right here. >> Yeah. >> He was found down there. >> Okay. >> So it was 40 minutes later. >> So the window >> The scenes in that footage are hard to fathom, but the case has to move forward, and it does provide some much-needed clarity. With that, officers turn to direct questioning, starting with Celeste. >> Apparently, she left him in there with her and the baby daddy while she just went right next door to cut her nails. The baby sitting there just screaming. It's like Come on. What the [ __ ] going on? And she's like I don't know. Next door cutting her nails. I was walking home while he was showering. And so I go in the shop. I check in. No problem. And the boy is screaming cuz he's very separation anxiety. With her. They're very connected like >> Very very >> Is that the one that's pregnant? So And I I when I came in the shop, I saw him cash crying. And the guy and I was like I go in the back, and she comes She comes shooting out the parking lot cuz I was blowing her phone up. She comes shooting out the smoke shop, and she was like, "I was over there cutting my meat." So, I go [ __ ] She was I'm like, He's like, Mhm. So, he was like, >> When was that? >> You went to go comes to tell >> Okay, so this is when he was >> Cuz he said it was very soon after he came and stayed in there. Okay. And he was He was serious. Because she's not You make him mad, and she's like, Cash, let's stop it. >> But we did we treated her like a dog. But we did throw her out. We threw her out. >> Let's record it. I thought it was her birthday. It was her birthday. I thought it was her birthday. >> Celeste's interview gives the case a new angle. What first looked like a tragic accident now raises the possibility that something sinister may have been involved, including drug use. To get a clearer picture, officers then turned to Tashiana. >> You know, like I'm watching TV like we normally do cuz at the end of the day, Gabe ran around and he was like, "Where's Cash?" And I said, "What do you mean? He's right on the couch." He's like, "No, he's not." That's when we started panicking and went out the front door and [snorts] running around the parking lot. So, we didn't even check the back, and that's when >> Where was she then? >> Uh-huh. >> [laughter] >> Gabe was the one who was on the ground. And started giving him CPR or not? I thought he was breathing. I was giving him CPR. I was pushing pushing pushing. I thought I didn't know he was There was water coming out. >> Wait, did Gabe trigger you because he said that he didn't know where he was, or did Gabe trigger you because he just wasn't with you? >> Me. Gabe thought he was with me, I guess, when he had woken up, but I was like, "No, you were on the couch." Gabe woke up when Like I'm not like I'm not I know I'm not making Okay, so >> No, you're making a you're making sense. >> You know, like he's tiny you know. Yeah. So yeah. >> And we were And and when they were both went to sleep and then we went took it at around 1:45. She texted me around like 2:30 saying that Bella was being dropped off at 3:15. Bella got dropped off at 3:20. After Bella got dropped off, Cash was still sleeping. I gotten up when I heard the door open and Cash was still sleeping and that's when I went and got food. The time on the checkers bag it tells you the time I got my food and I ordered my food. I sat in there waiting a lot like waiting for my food to be given to me cuz checkers says they do the hot wings fresh so it's been 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I hauled right back home. Like I didn't stop at another store. I wasn't gagging. And then I got out. >> [snorts] >> I sat at the like car for a minute. I turned my car off. I grabbed the food with the drinks and I go inside. Like and then I was like I turned the lights on. I go back there and I place food down and I walk back this way. And then I was like Gabe and he said, "Oh, what you got food?" He walked past the couch so it wasn't like he you know, like what was like the lights weren't on in the room. So like when he walked past I said and he's like, "Oh, food." And I guess when he turned around after he turned the lights on he's like, "Well, where's Cash?" I said, "What do you mean? He should be on the couch." He's like, "No, he's not." Then I saw the dog room door closed so maybe he had locked himself in the dog room. That's why I first we panicked. We had the front door and we looked all over the front yard and we should have walked in the back. I don't I don't >> I think you can say I'm done. >> If I knew If I checked the back first, I could have probably I don't know how long. I don't know. >> While Tasha's interview is underway, another unit heads to their residence to search for anything that might explain what happened. And this time, they don't come back empty-handed. Inside the bedroom area of the grooming shop, officers find multiple items tied to drug use, a rolled-up dollar bill with residue, and a shoe box filled with paraphernalia. They also recover cannabis along with a white crystalline substance later confirmed to be methamphetamine, all backing up Celeste's earlier claims. At that point, Gabriel is asked to provide a urine sample. Next, officers question Gabriel in a more direct manner, hoping to get the answers that are still missing. >> Tell me about how you found out that he was in the water. Walk me through that. >> She woke up, and then her She walked in, she said she had She said, "I got some food." I woke up. First thing I did was look for him. Where is my kid at? First thing. So, I walked out, asked her, "Where is Cash at?" She said, "He's on the couch sleeping." I walked back in there, and maybe I didn't see him. I looked, wasn't there. So, I started searching the building, looking through all the doors, opening everything up. "Where is he?" "He's down in the basement." I was like, "Where is he?" She said, "I don't know." I was like, "Well, let's start in here." So, we start freaking out. We run out of the building, start running around the building. >> Outside? >> Outside. >> Do you call 911, or who called 911? >> No, I think one of the other dudes did. >> Okay. >> I didn't know where my phone was. >> Okay. >> Something just told me to go to the water. I don't know what it was. Someone just told me to go to the water. I went to the water. See where he was laying. >> Now, is he close to >> So close to me, like this thing. >> All right. Okay. >> No. The water. >> That final piece comes in, and it confirms everything officers had been circling. Meth is found in Gabriel's system. What was once uncertain now starts to line up. Toxicology results confirm methamphetamine in Gabriel's system, aligning with what officers have already observed during questioning. Glassy eyes, slurred speech, and clear signs of impairment. The evidence found in the room only adds to the picture. Investigators also established that Tayshana was aware of Gabriel's drug use, yet still left cash in his care with the door unlocked. In November 2023, both parents, Tayshana Dasher Figaro and Gabriel Wayland Hodges, are charged with negligent manslaughter of a child.