Arkansas
Arkansas father arrested after allegedly killing man he found with his missing 14-year-old daughter
An Arkansas father was arrested after allegedly shooting and killing a man who was found in a vehicle with the father’s missing 14-year-old daughter.
Aaron Spencer, 36, reported his daughter missing on Tuesday, and Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to his home.
But as deputies were on their way to the residence, they learned that Spencer had found his daughter in a vehicle with Michael Fosler, 67. A confrontation ensued between the two men before Spencer allegedly shot and killed Fosler.
Deputies arrested Spencer on a preliminary charge of first-degree murder, a Class Y felony. He was booked into the Lonoke County Detention Center before being released the next day after posting bail.
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Aaron Spencer, 36, was arrested on a preliminary charge of first-degree murder. (Lonoke County Detention Center)
Sheriff John Staley said in a video on Facebook that Spencer has not been formally charged yet and that the District Attorney’s Office will decide which charges to file.
“This is a tragic situation and my thoughts and prayers are with all involved,” Staley said.
Spencer’s wife, Heather, said on Facebook that Fosler had a “no contact order” with her daughter for stalking and raping the 14-year-old over the summer and that she and her husband feared he might kill her. She said that she and her husband were unaware Fosler was again in contact with her child.
“We absolutely called 911 during the entire event,” she wrote. “We had no idea this man was in contact with our child again. He was waiting 6-9 felonies for what he did, not 2. He was looking at the rest of his pathetic life in jail, and our daughter was the only witness.”
“Some things we will never know, but we know that the police department afforded this predator privacy they did not give our family,” she continued. “Including posting our home address. I’m deeply offended by the way this was handled by the county [sheriff’s] office.”
The woman added: “At the end of the day, our daughter is a victim and we have a long road of recovery for everyone. We are so thankful for all the calls, messages and prayers.”
Sheriff John Staley said Aaron Spencer has not been formally charged yet and that the District Attorney’s Office will decide which charges to file. (iStock)
Fosler had been arrested by another law enforcement agency in July and booked for internet stalking of a child and sexual assault, Staley told USA TODAY.
“I absolutely do not support predators,” he said. I’m a daddy. “I have three daughters. I know she’s hurt right now, but there’s absolutely nobody I would put ahead of our children, their children, my children.”
The sheriff said deputies are looking into what happened leading up to the shooting.
“When we get on scene and there’s a homicide, it means one person took the life of another,” Staley said. “It’s either justified or not justified. That’s what the fact finding, that’s what the investigation is going to find out.”
The child’s mother had set up a GoFundMe to pay for her husband’s legal fees, but GoFundMe removed the fundraiser and returned the money to donors. GoFundMe’s terms of service prohibit fundraisers from raising money for the legal defense of anyone formally charged with an alleged violent crime.
Because of this, the woman is now accepting money on Venmo and Cash App.
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Aaron Spencer’s wife, Heather, said that Michael Fosler had a “no contact order” with her daughter. (Getty Images)
“My husband is a hero and we are so thankful to have him home with us for now,” The woman wrote in a Thursday Facebook post. “We want to do everything possible to ensure he can continue to be here to protect us.”
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She also thanked other victims who reached out to her with allegations that Fosler attacked them.
“We have gotten a clear picture of a predator who continuously worked with children and preyed on young girls,” she wrote. “This man was Chief of police in Indiana and resource officer, giving us a better idea of why the Lonoke county courts have been protecting him and going after my husband.”
The incident remains under investigation.
Rex Nelson
Rex Nelson has been senior editor and columnist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since 2017, and he has a biweekly podcast called “Southern Fried.”
After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University in 1981, he was a sportswriter for the Arkansas Democrat for a year before becoming editor of Arkadelphia’s Daily Siftings Herald. He was the youngest editor of a daily in Arkansas at age 23. Rex was then news and sports director at KVRC-KDEL from 1983-1985.
He returned to the Democrat as assistant sports editor in 1985. From 1986-1989, he was its Washington correspondent. He left to be Jackson T. Stephens’ consultant.
Rex became the Democrat-Gazette’s first political editor in 1992, but left in 1996 to join then-Gov. Mike Huckabee’s office. He also served from 2005-09 in the administration of President George W. Bush.
From 2009-2018, he worked stints at the Communications Group, Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities, and Simmons First National Corp.
Dylan Sherman
Dylan Sherman is a business reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He is based in Northwest Arkansas and focuses on Tyson Foods Inc. and the transportation industry. A graduate of the University of Missouri, he has been with the newspaper since 2023.
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