Derek Spencer, 44, was shot dead by police early Monday after a rampage that left a retired county worker murdered and a community demanding answers about why he was free to kill.
The Placer County District Attorney’s Office identified the victim as Cheryl Macy, a former employee who served the county from 2006 to 2020. Officials believe Macy, who was in her home, had no prior connection to her killer. She died over the weekend as Spencer fled from law enforcement following a string of fresh crimes in the area, including pointing a firearm at residents.
Spencer’s final hours began last Sunday morning, when police first encountered him. He rammed a police vehicle and escaped. Later that same day, officers found him shooting at a police helicopter and other deputies, and he slipped away again. A helicopter crew located him early Monday using infrared technology, and a shootout erupted as police moved in. After more than two hours of gunfire, officers killed him around 4:30 a.m.
The aftermath required air support of a different kind. Spencer had started multiple fires in the area, forcing authorities to use a helicopter to remove his body. Officials suspect he ignited the Mineral Fire, which had burned 18 acres with 20 percent containment as of Tuesday morning.
What enrages neighbors and observers is the paper trail Spencer left in the weeks before the bloodshed. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office detained him on Sept. 3 on three charges: felony vandalism, assault with a deadly weapon on a sheriff’s deputy, and resisting arrest. Eleven days later, Folsom authorities arrested him on a burglary charge. Less than a week after that, on Sept. 16, Sacramento County deputies booked him again for stealing a vehicle.
Yet Spencer walked free repeatedly. He posted bond on Sept. 11 and again on Sept. 17. For his third arrest, a judge granted him pre-arraignment release, according to KCRA.
“She didn’t need to die like that. There’s no reason for it, you know?” a neighbor of Macy’s told the station.
Macy’s granddaughter, Addison, shared a ritual she will never forget. “I used to just give her, like, a hug and squeeze it tight and she used to tell me she was like, ‘nope, you have to squeeze me three times’ and I was trying to figure out why and she said it was, the ‘I love you squeeze,'” she told KCRA. “When you squeeze three times, it meant I love you, and I used to be like my favorite thing as something I always hold with me from her was that because she was the only person who’s ever done that and told me that.”
The district attorney’s office issued a statement mourning a woman who had been part of their institutional memory. “She was a valued colleague, a friend, and a cherished member of our DA family,” the office said. “The loss of Cheryl is devastating to our office and to the entire community. Our hearts are with her family, and everyone who knew and loved her. We ask that their privacy be respected.”
Spencer’s ability to cycle through arrests and releases has intensified scrutiny of California’s pretrial detention practices, which have faced sustained criticism from law-and-order advocates who argue the system prioritizes defendants’ freedom over public safety.