Man who fatally shot Jamaican immigrant in rural Pennsylvania won't face charges, DA says

FRANKLIN, Pa. — The fatal shooting of a Jamaican immigrant last year in rural Pennsylvania, whose killing was described by his family as a "modern-day lynching," was ruled a justifiable homicide Tuesday and no charges will be filed against the shooter.

Authorities investigating the fatal shooting of Peter Bernardo Spencer, 29, at a rural camp on the early morning of Dec. 12 said an armed confrontation between two friends led to the firing of multiple bullets that killed Spencer.

The announcement ended a monthslong probe in which Spencer’s family and others urged investigators to determine whether the killing was racially motivated. Spencer was Black and the shooter is white. His family faulted the Pennsylvania State Police and the Venango County coroner over the investigation.

But on Tuesday, Venango County District Attorney D. Shawn White said there was no evidence of racial bias on the part of the suspect, identified by authorities as a 25-year-old man from Mercer, Pennsylvania.

White also said the report found no evidence that Spencer, who was living in Pittsburgh, was lured to the camp or that he was killed during a hunting incident.

"This is my call. I believe it's the right one," White said. "I appreciate law enforcement. I believe they've done their due diligence."

According to the investigation, the shooting suspect and witnesses described how Spencer had earlier fired numerous gunshots from an AK-47 into the air; how he had called himself "a god" while demanding others to gather more firewood at the camp; and how he had pointed the rifle at two witnesses while taking their vehicles' keys and ordering them to the ground. Investigators said alcohol, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms were present at the camp.

The man who shot Spencer told state troopers that Spencer pointed the assault rifle in his face and made a statement that he would "shoot up the place" before the man said he drew his 9 mm pistol and fired it at Spencer, investigators said Tuesday.

White said that after reviewing all of the evidence, he determined the shooting to be justified by way of self-defense or defense of others in accordance with Pennsylvania's "castle doctrine," and no criminal charges would be filed against the shooter.

In a statement Tuesday, the family's attorney, Paul Jubas, said there would be a press conference next week to respond to the district attorney's decision. 

"While we disagree with the decision, we are not surprised by it," the statement reads. "This is the type of behavior we have seen from the PA State Police and Venango County District Attorney from the outset."

Prior to the decision, family and advocates voiced frustration with the investigation's length and lack of transparency, little communication from police to Spencer's family on updates in the case.

In an interview with Pittsburgh Action News 4 last month, Spencer's mother, Icilda Spencer Hunter, argued his race played a role in how the investigation was being handled by police. She said she does not believe Spencer was a threat when he was fatally shot.

What to know about the shooting

Pennsylvania state police investigated the shooting, along with its Heritage Affairs Section, whose responsibilities include preventing and responding to bias-related crimes and hate crime. White said other agencies involved in the probe included the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and the FBI.

According to information outlined by White on Tuesday, the man from Mercer who shot Spencer had invited Spencer and others to his family's camp in Venango County, along the Allegheny River.

The man said he and Spencer had been friends for years and had been at the homes of each other's families, White said. Three other people — a man from Ohio and a man and a woman from New Castle, Pennsylvania — also were present at the outing, White said.

Witnesses told investigators the group spent the day off-roading before returning to the camp, where they drank and where three of them smoked marijuana and used psychedelic mushrooms.

According to the report released by White, Spencer said he wanted to build up the camp fire. As the two otherscollected firewood, Spencer brought out his AK-47 and fired some shots into the air. The witnesses said Spencer kept getting louder and started proclaiming that he was "a god," and he fired off more gunshots while demanding that the others gather more wood, White said.

The report details how Spencer stopped witnesses from leaving and demanded their keys. Spencer ordered one witness to the ground at gunpoint, the report says. 

At that point, according to the report, the accused shooter grabbed his 9 mm pistol from a nearby picnic table and placed it in his waistband.

Spencer then became angry that the others refused to follow his instructions to gather wood and began swearing at the eventual shooter. The shooter told investigators that Spencer pushed him, demanded to know where a woman in the group was, and threatened to "shoot up the place." 

That's when the man shot Spencer nine times, according to White. He said the location and trajectory of the wounds were consistent with the Mercer man's statements and support that Spencer was initially facing the man when the shooting began.

Investigators wrote in the report that, prior to the Dec. 12 shooting, Spencer and his fiancée were under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regarding the illegal acquisition and disposition of those firearms and others.

Spencer was born in Kingston, Jamaica and immigrated to the United States in 2013 to live with family in Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. He and his fiancée, Carmela King, were expecting a baby in June and he intended to open a restaurant with his mother serving Jamaican food, according to the Washington Post.

Contributing: Cady Stanton, Paste BN.

Follow Tim Hahn on Twitter: @ETNhahn.