SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Over 20 minutes, a metro man committed murder, multiple carjackings, assault and more, victimizing nine people in that short amount of time.
The cases involving Fortune Spencer started with domestic violence.
“Never in the course of my career, have I seen so much chaos and violence in such a short amount of time,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said.
She told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne that Sandy Spring police did a remarkable job finding video of almost every incident, which was shown during Spencer’s trial.
Spencer was first seen on video going around a Hilton Hotel looking for Sherika Little after they got into an argument over a cellphone charger on June 6, 2020.
Spencer and Little had come to Sandy Springs from North Carolina to celebrate her 24th birthday.
Just after 6 p.m., Spencer shot and killed Little, beginning the 20-minute crime spree.
“He forgot his cellphone charger and he was upset,” Chief Senior Assistant DA Maria Washington said.
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“The defendant then walks on foot. He attempts to hijack this blue car. He shoots the owner of the blue car,” said Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Asia Baysah.
Video then showed the driver of that blue car driving down Hammond Drive after being shot by Spencer.
After that, Spencer is then caught on camera hijacking another car at gunpoint with a grandmother and her 3-year-old granddaughter inside.
As Spencer drives away, the grandmother and her granddaughter are seen running to get help.
Then cameras catch Spencer drive up Hammond Drive to Peachtree Dunwoody Road, where he hits three parked cars.
Spencer then gets out of the car and tries to hijack a white SUV but collapses in the middle of the intersection of Peachtree Dunwoody Road and Summer Drive. That’s where police were finally able to take Spencer into custody.
“This all happened in 20 minutes,” Baysah told Winne.
“This is a perfect case to show you that domestic violence spills out into the community at large,” Willis said.
Little’s mother Carol Pickett said her daughter’s killing shattered her.
“She was my first daughter,” Pickett said. “A part of me died. I literally stopped eating. couldn’t sleep.”
Baysah and Washington said Sandy Springs police did an amazing job assembling the video from the 2020 incident that recently helped a jury return guilty verdicts for 17 felonies and two misdemeanors leading to a sentence of life without parole plus 145 years for Spencer.
“The eight victims who survived will live with this the rest of their lives, won’t they?” Winne asked Washington.
“Yes. They will,” Washington said. “They’re all traumatized.”
Spencer’s defense attorney Doug Weinstein said Spencer had THC and alcohol in his blood, but he suspects his client unknowingly ingested some other drug that caused his erratic behavior.
“He really regrets what happened,” Weinstein said.
“He had nine victims in 20 minutes,” Washington said.
Baysah said Spencer committed domestic abuse against Little previously, but like many victims, sadly, she did not report it to police.
Willis suggested the need for a domestic violence court, with judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys that are trained in domestic violence.
Weinstein said he expects an appeal.
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