LONOKE COUNTY, AR – Earlier in June, an Arkansas judge reportedly dropped the murder charge against an Army veteran who recently won the Republican primary for sheriff out of the very county he was arrested for fatally shooting his daughter’s alleged abuser.
On June 4th, Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. dismissed the murder case against Aaron Spencer, the Republican candidate for sheriff out of Lonoke County who was charged with murder for the October 2024 fatal shooting of 67-year-old Michael Fosler.
As previously reported in Law Enforcement Today, the history between Spencer and Fosler that led to the October 8th, 2024, fatal encounter stemmed from ostensible failures within the local justice system in Arkansas that allowed Fosler to gain access to Spencer’s teenage daughter following a July 2024 arrest on charges of stalking and raping the young girl.
Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on the day of the fatal incident, Spencer’s wife called 911 to report their teenage daughter missing. While his wife was on the line with 911, Spencer reportedly got into his vehicle to scout the immediate area in hopes of locating his missing child.
While searching the immediate area, Spencer had reportedly happened upon Fosler’s vehicle, with the accused predator and his child sitting inside of the vehicle cab.
A confrontation ensued between Spencer and Fosler, as the Army veteran later revealed to authorities that he feared his daughter was in danger of being sexually assaulted or worse by Fosler, culminating in fatal shooting of alleged sex offender.
Said shooting eventually led to criminal charges against Spencer, with prosecutors accusing the father of conducting himself as though he was living in “the Wild West.”
Following a short-lived gag order placed against Spencer regarding the specifics of the case, an outpouring of support came in for the veteran after media outlets reported on the particular circumstances that led up to the shooting.
After launching a campaign for sheriff in late 2025, Spencer secured the GOP primary while pitted against the very sheriff whose deputies carried out his arrest in 2024.
According to the judge’s June 4th decision to dismiss the case against Spencer, the matter pertains to an instance of mishandling critical evidence, specifically an SD card from a dashcam that was inside of Fosler’s vehicle at the time of the fatal shooting.
Law enforcement reportedly lost the SD card at some point during the investigation, which Judge Wilson highlighted was needed to ensure the defendant would receive a fair trial and access to potentially exculpatory evidence.
In Judge Wilson’s decision, he wrote, “the loss or destruction of the internal SD memory card of the dash camera has adversely impaired the Defendant's ability to defend himself pursuant to these defenses, and thus his right to a fair trial,” further emphasizing that the “conduct by law enforcement was so egregious that dismissal of this case is warranted.”
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