Michael Fosler’s Arkansas Case: Charges, Shooting, Spencer Dismissal

Michael Fosler was a 67-year-old Lonoke County, Arkansas, man facing 43 felony counts tied to the sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl when he was shot and killed on October 8, 2024, by the girl’s father, Aaron Spencer, after Spencer found her in Fosler’s truck in the middle of the night. The Michael Fosler Arkansas case ended for Fosler on the roadside; for Spencer, it ended in June 2026 when a judge dismissed the second-degree murder charge against him with prejudice after law enforcement lost a key piece of evidence.

Who Michael Fosler Was and What He Was Charged With

Fosler was arrested on July 11, 2024, on one count of rape and one count of internet stalking of a child involving Spencer’s then-13-year-old daughter.¹ On July 17, 2024, he was released on a $50,000 bond under pretrial conditions that included a no-contact order barring him from any interaction with a minor.²

By September 2024 the charges had grown to 43 felony counts in Lonoke County Circuit Court:³

36 counts of pandering or possessing media depicting sexual conduct of a child (Class C felony)
2 counts of internet stalking of a child (Class B felony)
2 counts of sexual assault, fourth degree (Class D felony)
2 counts of sexual indecency with a child (Class D felony)
1 count of electronic facilitation of child sexual abuse (Class B felony)

The alleged offenses against Spencer’s daughter were said to have occurred between June and July 2024.⁴ None of the counts were ever tried. On October 24, 2024, after Fosler’s death, every charge was dismissed with the notation “Dismissed – Defendant Deceased,” and the case was closed.³

The Night of the Shooting

In the early morning of October 8, 2024, Aaron Spencer, then 37, woke to find his 13-year-old daughter missing from her bedroom. In her bed, a hoodie had been arranged over a stuffed animal. He got into his truck and went looking for her.⁵

Spencer found Fosler’s truck on Highway 236 with his daughter in the passenger seat. Fosler was out on bond at the time, and his presence with the girl violated the no-contact order attached to his release. Spencer forced the truck off the road. An altercation followed, and Spencer shot Fosler. Later reporting put the number of shots that struck Fosler at 15.¹ Spencer moved his daughter to his own vehicle and called 911. Fosler died at the scene.⁴

How the Case Against Spencer Collapsed

On November 27, 2024, Spencer was charged with second-degree murder under Arkansas Code Annotated section 5-10-103, with a firearm enhancement under section 16-90-120. He pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys filed a notice to raise justification as a defense the day after they entered the case.⁵ Spencer argued he had acted to protect his daughter from a man already charged with sexually assaulting her. Prosecutors argued he had time during a roughly 20-minute window between his wife’s report that the girl was missing (around 1:12 a.m.) and the shooting to call police instead of giving chase.⁶

The case never reached a jury. Mounted inside Fosler’s truck was a dash camera that may have recorded the confrontation. Lonoke County Sheriff’s Detective Robby McCain acknowledged that the camera and its SD memory card sat unsecured in his office for close to a year before being formally logged into evidence in October 2025. The camera was never photographed or documented according to department policy. McCain testified he had pulled the SD card and viewed portions of four 15-minute video files, but conceded he never watched them in full, which contradicted statements in his own affidavit.⁷

When the camera reached the Arkansas Attorney General’s office, the SD card was gone. Searches of McCain’s office and the vehicle used to move the evidence turned up nothing. The loss was uncovered in April 2026.⁴ On May 21, 2026, the defense moved to dismiss for a due process violation.

On June 4, 2026, Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. granted the motion. In a 19-page ruling, Wilson wrote that law enforcement’s conduct was “so egregious that dismissal of this case is warranted,” found that the dash camera footage had “apparent” exculpatory value that could not be obtained by any other means, and concluded that the mishandling established “a pattern of policy and procedure violations and gives the appearance of a coverup.”⁸ Wilson called the dismissal an “extraordinary and extreme remedy.”⁹

On June 8, 2026, Wilson entered a formal order confirming the dismissal was with prejudice, meaning the charge cannot be refiled.¹⁰ Lonoke County Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Graham said on June 5, 2026, that his office had not yet decided whether to appeal.¹¹

What Happened Next

While the murder charge was still pending, Spencer entered the Republican primary for Lonoke County sheriff. On March 4, 2026, he won the three-candidate race with more than 53 percent of the vote, defeating the incumbent, Sheriff John Staley, whose department had arrested him, along with challenger David Bufford.⁹¹² Spencer, an Army veteran with no prior law enforcement experience, ran on reforming the local justice system and standing up a unit dedicated to investigating child sexual abuse, grooming, and domestic violence. He faces Democratic nominee Brian Mitchell Sr. in the November 2026 general election in a county where Donald Trump drew roughly 76 percent of the vote in 2024.¹³

An online petition calling for the charges to be dropped drew more than 380,000 signatures before the dismissal. “I did what any good father would do — just save and protect their child,” Spencer said publicly.¹³

1
KATV. New Court Filing Details Timeline in Aaron Spencer Case
2
The Guardian. Arkansas Sheriff Candidate Murder Charge Dismissal
3
Arkansas Courts. State of Arkansas v. Michael Fosler, 43CR-24-429
4
People. Judge Dismisses Murder Charge Against Arkansas Father Aaron Spencer
5
Justia. Spencer v. State of Arkansas, 2025 Ark. 91
6
KATV. New Plea Filed as Spencer Defense Disputes State’s Version of Events
7
KATV. What Happened to the Dash Cam: Key Evidence Missing Ahead of Spencer Trial
8
KARK. Judge Orders Murder Case Against Lonoke County Sheriff Candidate Aaron Spencer Dismissed
9
Arkansas Advocate. Murder Charge Dismissed Against Arkansas Man Running for County Sheriff
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KARK. Aaron Spencer Case Cannot Be Re-Filed, Dismissed With Prejudice
11
Southwest Times Record. Lost Evidence Leads to Dismissal of Aaron Spencer Case
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KATV. Aaron Spencer Wins Primary for Lonoke County Sheriff
13
CNN. Aaron Spencer Murder Charges Dismissed