An Arkansas father, Aaron Spencer, 36, has been charged with the first-degree murder of Michael Fosler, a man in his 60s whom he found with his missing 14-year-old daughter in a car. The girl was reported missing on Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said, and authorities reported that they received a call that a father had found his daughter with Fosler. However, by the time they arrived, they found that Spencer and Fosler had a “confrontation” and Spencer shot Fosler, he died later at the scene.
Aaron Spencer Faces a Class Y-Felony Charge
The shooting took place in Lonoke County, about 75 miles northeast of Hot Springs. Aaron Spencer was taken into custody and to the Lonoke County Detention Center. He is facing a “preliminary charge” of first-degree murder. Given the fact that it is a Class Y felony charge, this means that he’s facing a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of 40 years or life in prison. Sheriff John Staley confirmed that the investigation is still ongoing, thus, limited details are being released to the public. In addition, the prosecution is still to determine what charges are to be filed, no official charge has been filed yet. Spencer is now free on a $150,000 bond.
Michael Fosler’s Pedophilic History
Sheriff Staley told USA Today that another agency arrested Fosler and booked him for internet stalking of a child and sexual assault. Furthermore, Breitbart Texas spoke with the Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and they learned that Fosler was facing multiple charges of internet stalking of a child, sexual assault of a child, sexual indecency with a child, and 35 counts of possession of child pornography. All of these charges are related to the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Spencer’s family is traumatized by the event as they thought that Fosler took their daughter to kill her, and they thought that they might never see her again.
Sheriff Staley Faces Backlash
Sheriff Staley is being attacked by many as they wonder why is Spencer the one taking the blame, he was just saving his daughter from a predator. Even the girl’s mother is far from satisfied as she sees that “the police department afforded this predator privacy” that they did not give her family, and that she feels “deeply offended by the way this was handled by the county sheriff’s office.” Sheriff Staley answered and he totally sympathizes with the mother and understands her, he is a father of three daughters himself. He told USA Today, “I absolutely do not support predators.”
He also said that the investigation at this point aims to figure out what led to the shooting, whether the shooting was ” justified or not justified.” He also stressed the fact that he doesn’t have as much authority as people think. The one responsible for charging Spencer is the prosecuting attorney. He and the prosecuting attorney are in contact to see the conclusions that they have come to from the investigation so the prosecuting attorney can make an informed decision.
Final Thoughts
What happened between Aaron Spencer, Michael Fosler, and Spencer’s daughter is a very tragic event. Predators should not be left loose and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Also, the fact that a 14-year-old was with a predator and got to witness a shooting must be traumatizing and no one should ever go through that. As for Spencer, whether the prosecution will see what happened for what it is, a father protecting his daughter from a predator, or not is debatable. No one will get an answer until the prosecution decides on the charges.
