Saturday, June 6, 2026 - A judge has dismissed a m8rder charge against a man awaiting trial for k!lling his 13-year-old daughter's alleged r@pist in Arkansas, United States.
The case against Aaron Spencer was tossed by the judge on
Thursday, June 4, 2026 weeks before he was set to face a jury on a
second-degree m8rder charge.
Spencer won the GOP nomination for sheriff and will be on
the November ballot.
He won a March primary over the local three-term sheriff
whose office had arrested him in Lonoke County.
Spencer’s attorneys do not deny that he shot and k!lled
67-year-old Michael Fosler in 2024, saying he did so to protect his
child.
Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. granted a
motion by Spencer's attorney to dismiss the charge over a dash camera memory
card that may have captured the shooting and was lost by law enforcement.
"The court finds that conduct by law enforcement was
so egregious that dismissal of this case is warranted,” Wilson wrote.
At the time of the shooting, Fosler, was out on bond
after being charged with dozens of s3xual offenses against Spencer’s
then-13-year-old daughter.
Court documents show on the night of the shooting,
Spencer had woken up to find his daughter missing, and later found the girl in
the passenger seat of a vehicle Fosler was driving.
Spencer forced Fosler’s truck off the road and, after an
altercation, called 911 to report he had shot the man.
Prosecutors said Spencer planned the k!lling and that he
could have called police while pursuing Fosler.
But Spencer pleaded not guilty and maintained he acted to
protect his child from a predator
Spencer’s attorney, Erin Cassinelli, said she is thankful
for the court’s decision.
“No member of this family should ever again be forced to
walk into a courtroom and relive this horror,” she said in a statement.
“This father should have never been charged for protecting his child.
Spencer said he is grateful this chapter is over and that his focus is now on his family and returning to normal life.
"There’s still work to do in Lonoke County, and I’m
more committed to it than ever,” he said in a statement.
“Together we can build a safer and stronger Lonoke
County.”
Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham did not
return messages Thursday seeking comment on the decision.
Spencer has made his daughter’s experience with the
criminal justice system a central part of his campaign for sheriff, pledging to
establish a dedicated team to combat s3x crimes against children.
Spencer's attorneys filed the motion seeking to have the
case dismissed, contending that video and audio of the dash camera from
Fosler's truck may have contained evidence that would have cleared Spencer of
any wrongdoing.
According to court records, a detective with the Lonoke
County Sheriff's Office removed the dash camera from the truck when responding
to the scene of the shooting.
But the camera's internal settings were not
preserved and the battery of the camera was allowed to drain, and as a result
the camera went back to its default settings.
When the camera was sent to the attorney general's office
for a forensic exam, the memory card that was in it when it was collected from
the truck was missing.
The detective who collected the camera later admitted
that it was not logged into evidence right away, but was instead stored in his
personal office rather than the evidence room, according to court records.
Wilson replaced the original judge handling the m8rder
case in January after the Arkansas Supreme Court removed Judge Barbara Elmore
from the case, finding she had issued an overly broad gag order that violated
Spencer's First Amendment right.
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