Multiple media sources have reported that according to court documents, 16-year-old Joseph Spencer has now been charged as an adult with fatally shooting both of his parents and youngest sister.
Spencer then called 911 shortly after 6 p.m. on Monday September 3rd and told the dispatcher that he had just shot his family. The juvenile information sheet states that: "The caller advised central communications that he had just shot his family members,"
They were identified as Fred and Dixie Spencer and their daughter Patience "PJ" Spencer.
Doddridge County Circuit Court Judge Tim Sweeney granted a motion made by the Doddridge County Prosecutor
Brooke Fitzgerald to try Spencer as an adult, which allowed the case file on 16 year old Joseph Spencer to be made public.
The case file information sheet, now unsealed and publically available, has provided the following summarized information about the shooting and the series of events immediately following the shootings.
Doddridge County sheriff's deputy C.W. Modesitt responded to the call to the Spencer home north of West Union. Modesitt reported when he arrived he apprehended Spencer and placed him in the cruiser.
"Upon clearing all structures on scene, I observed a female lying outside at the foot of the porch steps, dead from apparent gunshots. Through the front downstairs door, I observed a female approximately 9 years old lying dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Up the stairs to the residence, and in a back bedroom, I observed a third body. The third body was a male adult."
Rodney Windom, defense attorney for Joseph Spencer, has filed a motion for discovery to obtain access to the state's evidence which includes the state's interview with Spencer, his call to the 911 dispatcher, and any recordings contained on the Doddridge County Sheriff's Office cell phone used by Doddridge County sheriff's deputy C.W. Modesitt.
Due to the lag time created by requesting this additional evidence disclosure, it's very unlikely the case will make it to the Doddridge County Grand Jury scheduled for this month.
