Fermin Medrano-Perez and Jeneixa Rodriguez-Crespo
Introduction
Fermin Medrano-Perez and Jeneixa Rodriguez-Crespo are a Deltona, Florida, couple arrested on October 31, 2026, after Volusia County deputies found their 4-year-old son alone and waist-deep in a retention pond — a rescue that led deputies into the family’s home and to charges of child neglect and animal cruelty against both parents. The charges are accusations from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office; neither parent has been tried, and both are presumed innocent.
Background Information
The two are private individuals with no public profile beyond the sheriff’s office account of the October 31 call and the coverage that followed it. Medrano-Perez was home when deputies knocked; Rodriguez-Crespo, the boy’s mother, was at work and came home after deputies called her, according to the sheriff’s office. Deltona is a city of roughly 90,000 in Volusia County, between Orlando and Daytona Beach, where the sheriff’s office regularly publishes bodycam footage of its calls. The family home sat near a retention pond in the area of Oasis and Gainesville Drives.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not convicted. The account below comes from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office as relayed by the New York Post, WKMG and Fox-affiliated reporters. Medrano-Perez and Rodriguez-Crespo were charged with child neglect and animal cruelty; the charges are unproven allegations, neither has gone to trial, and both are presumed innocent.
Just before 8 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2026, deputies responded to a report of an unaccompanied toddler near a Deltona retention pond and found the 4-year-old wearing nothing but a diaper, standing waist-deep in the water — uninjured, the office said, but “completely non-verbal.” Bodycam footage released by the agency shows a deputy wading in and picking the boy up: “Hey, come here … It’s OK,” the deputy tells him before carrying him to a patrol car. The Daytona Beach News-Journal, citing the office’s video post, reported the child had been walking in the pond water and appeared to be OK.
The child pointed deputies to his home, where the front door stood wide open; Medrano-Perez came to the door as deputies shouted to see whether anyone was inside, per the sheriff’s office. Deputies described an “overwhelming smell of feces and urine” at the threshold, then — allowed inside — found urine and feces on the walls and most kitchen surfaces, live and dead bugs, black mold in the refrigerator and bathroom, and a caged dog standing in its own excrement. The department’s statement cited “filthy conditions,” including “copious animal waste, a roach infestation, and mold”; animal control took custody of the dog.
Deputies quoted Medrano-Perez explaining that the family had tried to have the bugs exterminated and cleaned the dog’s waste from the floor about once a week, and offering no other explanation for the home’s state beyond a full-time work schedule and a lack of money to fix the infestation, according to WKMG. Both parents were arrested and charged with child neglect and animal cruelty.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The sheriff’s office publicized the rescue itself, releasing the bodycam clip of the pond retrieval; regional outlets followed the arrests the same day, and the New York Post carried the story nationally on November 1 under a “house of horrors” headline. Fox-affiliated reporting noted what authorities had not said: how long the child was left unattended, how he ended up in the pond, and how long the family had lived in the conditions described. Both parents were booked into the Volusia County jail without bond.
Current Status
Medrano-Perez and Rodriguez-Crespo remain charged with child neglect and animal cruelty, held at the Volusia County jail on no bond per WKMG’s November 1 report. The 4-year-old, who was unhurt, was released to a grandparent, and the Florida Department of Children and Families was contacted for follow-up; the family’s dog is with Deltona Animal Control. No arraignment dates appear in the coverage, and none are asserted here; the charges must still be proven in court.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Two working parents are now criminal defendants, jailed without bond in the opening days of cases that will decide whether either regains custody of their son; the Department of Children and Families’ follow-up runs on a separate track from the criminal charges and can outlast them. Whatever the courts decide, the published bodycam footage and booking photos have attached their names permanently to the pond rescue and the conditions deputies described inside the home.
Sources
- New York Post, “Parents busted after cops find 4-year-old son in pond and discover filthy house full of animal poop”, Nov. 1, 2026. source
- WKMG ClickOrlando, “Parents arrested after toddler found near retention pond, Volusia deputies say”, Oct. 31, 2026. source
- LiveNOW from FOX, “Florida child found alone in pond; parents arrested, deputies say”, Oct. 31, 2026. source
- The Daytona Beach News-Journal, “Deltona parents charged with child neglect and animal cruelty”, Oct. 31, 2026. source