Florida's bill aims to make child custody exchanges safer after kidnappings and killings

Bill to exchange custody of children in the state parliament

Jordan Bowen reports

TAMPA, Fla. – Custody exchange is an important issue at the forefront of Florida law.

Currently awaiting a vote in the Florida Senate, HB 385 would, if passed, allow judges in custody cases to require parents to meet at sheriff's offices to exchange their children.

The bill commemorates Cassie Carli, 37, who died after police said she was kidnapped by the father of her child during a custody exchange.

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“Cassie was the best mother in the world. She lived for Saylor,” said her friend and colleague Stacy Cole.

Carli was a loving mother and loyal friend to Cole. After their friendship began, Cole said Carli confided in her about the psychological abuse she was enduring at the hands of her child's father, 36-year-old Marcus Spanevelo.

Then, on March 27, 2022, Carli disappeared from a public restaurant parking lot in Navarre Beach, near Pensacola, following a planned custody exchange of her daughter.

“I literally physically fell to the ground because I knew in my gut that Marcus had done something terrible to her,” Cole said.

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Six days later, investigators found her body in a shallow grave in Springville, Alabama, on property owned by people with ties to Spanevelo. Police believe he kidnapped her during the exchange and then buried her body.

Pictured: Marcus Spanevelo.

Violence also erupted during another planned custody exchange in Tampa on Monday.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said they captured helicopter video of the moment a child was found safe at a nearby McDonald's. Officers said the child's parents got into an argument at the father's house and someone accompanying the mother pointed a gun at the father.

Charges have now been brought against four people in this case.

Both cases are clear examples of why Cole is pushing for the passage of Cassie's Law, or HB 385, which would allow family court judges to require parents to meet at designated safe meeting points in county sheriff's offices, where it's always good Illuminated is under 24 hour surveillance.

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“This is the good that comes out of something terrible. Seeing the support is amazing,” Cole said.

The bill passed the Florida House of Representatives unanimously in January and now awaits a vote in the Florida Senate scheduled for next week. If the test is passed, it goes to the governor's desk.

“She will forever and ever be committed to protecting Florida families,” Cole said.

Spanevelo is charged with kidnapping resulting in death and abuse of a corpse. He pleaded not guilty to both charges. His trial is scheduled for next month in Alabama.

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