Authorities say a father in Arkansas shoots a man who was found with his missing 14-year-old daughter

A central Arkansas father has been charged with first-degree murder after he found his missing minor daughter in a car with a man and then shot the man.

The shooting happened in Lonoke County, about 75 miles northeast of Hot Springs.

Someone called the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office about a missing juvenile around 1:12 a.m. Tuesday morning, the sheriff’s office said in a news release on Facebook. The girl is 14 years old and the man who was shot is in his 60s, Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley confirmed to USA TODAY Friday afternoon.

While officers were on their way to the home, someone called to tell them that a father, Aaron Spencer, had found his daughter with a man named Michael Fosler, authorities said.

The two had a “confrontation” and Fosler was shot and later pronounced dead at the scene.

Spencer was taken into custody and transported to the Lonoke County Detention Center. According to online jail records, Spencer, 36, was released Wednesday at 1:12 p.m.

He faces a “preliminary charge” of first-degree murder, a Class Y felony, the sheriff’s office said. According to the legal website Justia, Class Y felonies are typically punishable by a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 40 years in prison or life in prison.

Sheriff Staley said in a video posted on Facebook that the investigation is ongoing and authorities are releasing limited details. The prosecutor will decide what charges will be filed, and no official charges have been filed yet, Staley said.

“I have not advocated for any specific charges and will not do so,” Staley said. “This is a tragic situation and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.”

Investigation: 13-year-old ran away from his mother at the car wash in Arizona. A month later he is still missing.

Shooter Posts Bail; Family tries to find a lawyer

A woman who identified herself as the girl’s mother, Heather Spencer, shared a series of updates on Facebook following the incident. She confirmed that the family was able to post bail and get Spencer out of jail, but she launched a fundraiser to retain a lawyer.

“We are private citizens, so it was very difficult to make all of this public,” Spencer said on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.

In her post, she said the family had put a no-contact order on Fosler because of stalking.

The man killed was arrested earlier this year

The man who was shot, Fosler, was arrested by another agency in July and charged with internet stalking of a child and sexual assault, Sheriff Staley told USA TODAY Friday afternoon.

“This guy who robbed her daughter was out on bail and we had stopped him that night and picked him up,” he said. “That bail would have been revoked. He would never have gotten out of prison. None of the bail companies would have let him out. We wouldn’t have let him out.”

She said her family believed Fosler took her daughter to kill her. Her daughter is a victim and her family has a long road to recovery, she said.

“We made sure to call 911 throughout the entire event,” she wrote. “We had no idea that this man was in contact with our child again. For what he did, he had to face six to nine offenses, not two. He was facing the rest of his miserable life in prison, and our daughter was the only witness.”

“Some things we will never know, but we know that the police gave this predator privacy that they did not give our family,” she wrote. “I am deeply offended by the way the county sheriff’s office handled this.”

“I absolutely do not support predators”

Sheriff Staley told USA TODAY Friday afternoon that he knew the girl’s mother was hurt and scared.

“I don’t support predators at all,” he said. “I am dad. I have three daughters. I know she’s hurting right now, but there is absolutely no one I would put above our children, her children, my children.”

He said his investigators were trying to figure out what happened that day that led to the man’s death.

“If we’re on scene and there’s a murder, that 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 will find.”

The murder charge against Aaron Spencer, the shooter and the girl’s father, is a preliminary charge but not official, Staley said.

The legal fundraiser has been removed from GoFundMe

The girl’s mother also claimed that GoFundMe, the platform they used to raise money for legal purposes, was returning funds to donors and ultimately said the fundraiser had stopped altogether. Instead, she raises money through Venmo and Cash App.

A GoFundMe spokesperson told USA TODAY Friday afternoon that GoFundMe’s terms of service prohibit fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of people formally charged with “an alleged violent crime.”

“In keeping with this long-standing policy, the fundraiser has been removed from our platform and donations have been refunded,” the fundraising platform said in its statement.

On Thursday morning, Spencer thanked community members. She also thanked the other victims who had contacted her claiming that the same man had attacked them.

“We received a clear picture of a predator who continually worked with children and exploited young girls,” Spencer wrote. “This man was a police chief in Indiana and a resource officer, which gives us a better idea of ​​why the Lonoke District Courts are protecting him and taking action against my husband.”

She said the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office’s actions are evidence that the sheriff “supports robbers” and that he will prosecute those who try to protect their families.

“My husband is a hero and we are so grateful to have him home with us for now,” Spencer wrote Thursday morning. “We want to do everything we can to make sure he can continue to be here to protect us.”

In a recent post Friday morning, she shared that she was overwhelmed by the support community members have shown her family. Her family also plans to open a bank account to raise money.

“Donations are wonderful and necessary, but despite the litigation, this has been the most traumatic event in our family life, for all of us, so please keep us in your prayers and include us in your prayer chain,” Spencer wrote.

‘I’m not pressing charges’: Sheriff says investigation is ongoing

The sheriff emphasized that he does not have the authority that some people expect of him.

“I’m not pressing charges,” he said, adding that it was the prosecutor. “We are discussing with the prosecutor what needs to be done in this preliminary phase. All my deputies and investigators knew at that point was that there was a man who died, a 14-year-old who was in the truck with him, and a dad who said, ‘Hey, I stopped him for that.'”

Sheriff Staley said investigators interviewed people Friday and have been working all week to get the facts.

“We will complete the matter as quickly as possible and fax the file to the prosecutor so he can make an informed decision,” Staley said.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY’s NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or send her an email at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Aaron Spencer has been charged after a man was fatally shot with his missing daughter