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A judge on Thursday dismissed the second-degree murder charge against Aaron Spencer, the Lonoke County sheriff candidate who shot and killed the man accused of sexually abusing his 13-year-old daughter.
Special Circuit Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. threw out the case over law enforcement’s mishandling of evidence. He ruled the conduct violated Spencer’s right to due process.
The dismissal came weeks before Spencer was set to stand trial on June 22. He had pleaded not guilty.
What the judge found
Wilson’s ruling centered on a dash camera and its SD memory card from Michael Fosler’s pickup truck. Spencer’s attorneys argued the footage could have shown what happened the night of the shooting and backed his claim that he acted to protect his child.
A sheriff’s detective removed the camera without documenting its position, took out the memory card and viewed it on a personal laptop, then failed to log it, according to court filings. The card was later lost.
Wilson found the handling broke the sheriff’s office’s own evidence rules. “This establishes a pattern of policy and procedure violations and gives the appearance of a coverup,” his order states.
The judge called dismissal an extraordinary and extreme remedy. He wrote that the conduct by law enforcement was “so egregious that dismissal of this case is warranted.”
A killing the defense never denied
Spencer’s lawyers did not dispute that he shot Fosler. They said he did it to stop a predator from taking his daughter again.
Fosler, 67, was free on bond at the time. He faced 43 felony counts, including rape of a minor, sexual assault, internet stalking of a child and possession of child pornography. A no-contact order was supposed to keep him away from the girl.
On the night of Oct. 8, 2024, Spencer woke to find his daughter gone from her bedroom, according to statements from him and his wife. He searched the roads near his home and found her in the passenger seat of Fosler’s truck.
He forced the truck off the road, and Fosler died after an altercation. Spencer called 911 to report the shooting.
What the dismissal did not decide
The ruling did not find that Spencer was justified in killing Fosler. It found that law enforcement’s failures denied him a fair chance to prove that defense at trial.
Prosecutors had argued Spencer planned the killing and could have called police as he pursued Fosler. Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham said he was reviewing the order and would consult with his staff before deciding how to respond.
Spencer thanked God, his family and supporters in a statement. He asked for privacy as his family returns to normal life.
What it means for November
Spencer won the Republican primary for Lonoke County sheriff on March 3 with more than 53% of the vote. He defeated incumbent Sheriff John Staley, whose office had arrested him. His name will appear on the November ballot.
Spencer faces two opponents in the general election: Democrat Brian Mitchell Sr. and independent Larry Behnke. Behnke said the dismissal was the result of constitutional due process. He said the judge’s findings pointed to serious failures in law enforcement training, leadership and oversight.
Lonoke County backed President Donald Trump with nearly 76% of the vote in 2024. The county has about 76,000 residents.
When the system fails a child
The Spencer case has drawn attention well beyond Lonoke County, and the reason is not the shooting. It is the uncomfortable fact underneath it. A man accused of abusing a 13-year-old was free to be near her again because the system let him out.
Fosler faced 43 felonies. A judge released him on bond anyway. The judge who handled that release, Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore, was later removed from Spencer’s own murder case by the Arkansas Supreme Court after the high court found she abused her discretion.
This newsroom has documented the same pattern closer to home, again and again. In Mountain Home, Thomas Zulker admitted to targeting children online and showed up to meet someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl. He received a suspended sentence, paid a fine and was not required to register as a sex offender.
In Marion County, neighbors say they warned the sheriff’s office for 11 months about the Manson household before the alleged abuse came to light. Members of the family are charged in the rapes of two victims, one a minor and one a young adult.
In Baxter County, the Department of Children and Family Services received 29 hotline reports over 11 years and closed every one as unsubstantiated. Two boys were found to have been abused in the home. Their guardians, Jaclyn Barnett and Daniel Wright, were sentenced to 20 years after plea deals.
The failures are not the work of one bad judge or one lost memory card. They are the gaps that open when bond, no-contact orders, registries and child welfare systems each assume another part of the system is holding the line.
A legislative working group led by Rep. Stetson Painter is drafting a 2027 overhaul of the state’s child welfare structure. Children’s advocates at Grandma’s House Children’s Advocacy Center, which serves Baxter, Marion and five other north-central Arkansas counties, continue to provide forensic interviews and therapy at no cost to families. Those are the people still showing up.
What the case leaves unresolved
No court ruled on whether Spencer was justified. The charge was dismissed over law enforcement’s handling of evidence, not over a finding that the shooting was lawful.
Spencer heads into November as the Republican nominee. If he wins, the dismissal clears the way for him to take office in January.
The case has renewed debate over how a man facing 43 felony counts was free on bond and able to be near the girl again. That question, unlike the murder charge, has not been resolved.
