Houston (TCD) — A 22-year-old man has been charged with targeting a child sex offender and shooting him to death last year.
Shortly before 4 a.m. on May 29, 2023, the Houston Police Department responded to a report of an unconscious man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in a ditch at 900 Northwood St. Houston Fire Department paramedics also went to the scene and later declared the victim. Identified as Sean Showers, 37, deceased.
Police allege James Spencer fatally shot Showers from inside the vehicle while the victim was walking along the roadway. According to KPRC-TV, the suspect posed as a minor and made plans to meet Showers under the pretense of providing sexual entertainment.
KPRC reports that Spencer believed law enforcement officials were not doing enough to keep child sex offenders behind bars and wanted to do them harm by taking matters into his own hands.
Police arrested Spencer on Wednesday, January 31, nearly nine months after the fatal shooting. He was booked into the Harris County Jail on suspicion of murder and remains held on $250,000 bail. Spencer could face life in prison if convicted.
Showers pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in 2009 before the shooting, according to the FBI's Houston office. The victim reportedly served time in federal prison and was not a registered sex offender.
“This was very insidious,” said Andy Kahan, director of victim services for Houston Crime Stoppers, in a statement obtained by KPRC.
Kahan added, “When I see this, I think, ‘This only happens in movies.’”
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