DeSantis demands impeachment of judge who freed sex offender before 5-year-old's killing

Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling on the Florida House to impeach a Tallahassee judge who briefly released a sex offender onto the streets, resulting in the killing of the man’s 5-year-old stepdaughter.

“To my friends in the Florida House of Representatives, I don’t think what you’ve done is enough,” DeSantis said during a Tampa press conference on Tuesday. “You have the power, and you have sufficient numbers in your chamber, to impeach this judge, Tiffany Baker-Carper.

“Until you start holding these judges accountable, they are gonna continue to find ways to benefit the criminal element,” he added.

The comments were the strongest yet from the governor who’s long-battled who he calls “activist judges.” Although it’s the first time DeSantis — who’s insisted for years that unruly judges must be held accountable — has pushed for impeachment, it comes only days after President Donald Trump publicly called for a federal judge to be impeached.

It takes a two-thirds vote from the Florida House to impeach judicial officers, followed by a two-thirds vote in the Senate to remove them. Republicans make up nearly 70% of lawmakers in each chamber.

DeSantis’ impeachment call came Tuesday as he signed Missy’s Law. A priority bill for Attorney General James Uthmeier, the legislation demands judges keep defendants convicted of dangerous crimes in custody instead of freeing them ahead of sentencing.

That’s what happened in the case of Daniel Spencer, a 35-year-old convicted in an underage sex sting for attempting to meet a 15-year-old girl. Leon County Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper didn’t lock him up pending sentencing because he’d already been out of jail for a year without violations and had no violent criminal history, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

But a month later, he — along with the girl’s mother, Chloe Spencer — beat and murdered his stepdaughter, Missy Mogle. Both Spencers were charged with second-degree murder in May 2025.

Baker-Carper was elected to the Second Judicial Circuit on Nov. 3, 2020.

“It’s a miscarriage of justice, a dereliction of judicial duty,” DeSantis said. “If we had this bill in place then, Missy would be alive today.”

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