Arkansas sheriff’s candidate focused on ‘family’ after dismissal of murder charge

An Arkansas sheriff’s candidate who was alleged to have killed his teenaged daughter’s sexual abuser says he is focused on “family and getting back to a normal life” after the dismissal of a murder charge filed against him. “I’m grateful this chapter is closed,” Aaron Spencer also said in a statement after the dismissal on Thursday. Spencer’s statement added that he was “more committed … than ever” to the political race he is favored to win – and which he signed up for in the throes of a legal situation that captured attention well beyond his community of Lonoke county. The US army combat veteran, 37, was charged with second-degree murder in the 8 October 2024 shooting death of Michael Fosler, 67, in Lonoke. On the day of the killing, Spencer woke up at about 1am to find that his daughter – then 13 – was missing from her bedroom, and went searching for her in his truck. He ultimately found her in the passenger seat of a truck being driven by Fosler. Spencer eventually forced Fosler’s vehicle off the highway. The men had an altercation; Spencer then shot Fosler and called first responders, records have stated. Fosler at the time had been released on a $50,000 bond while faced with more than 40 criminal charges, including sexual assault, sexual indecency with a child, possession of child abuse imagery and internet stalking of a child. Spencer’s daughter was the sole witness connected to Fosler’s charges. …