PETER BERNARDO SPENCER
Venango County DA says he can’t prove shooting was not done in self-defense
by Rob Taylor Jr., Courier Staff Writer
No charges will be filed against the person responsible for shooting and killing 29-year-old Peter Bernardo Spencer, a Jamaican immigrant who lived in Pittsburgh, found dead in front of a home in Venango County, Pa., Dec. 12, 2021.
The Venango County District Attorney, Shawn White, said in a press conference, Tuesday, March 15, that due to Spencer’s acting erratically and in a threatening manner, as well as firing an AK-47 weapon multiple times into the air, the alleged suspect was “justified” in shooting him due to self-defense statutes under the “Stand Your Ground” law.
Spencer’s case had drawn international attention, as Spencer’s family and supporters waited weeks for White’s investigation to be completed. White said he felt confident that he made the right decision in not pursuing charges against the White man from Mercer County who was determined to be the one who fired the fatal shots.
Tim Stevens, the chairman and CEO of the Black Political Empowerment Project, told the New Pittsburgh Courier exclusively that “obviously, we were displeased and profoundly disappointed” with the DA’s decision. “We still find it difficult to believe that someone can use self-defense when shooting someone nine times in different directions in their body. We just find that extremely difficult to believe. We will continue to support the family in whatever way that is appropriate.”
In previous Courier reporting, Icilda Spencer-Hunter, Peter Spencer’s mother, told the Courier after a Feb. 2 press conference in the Hill District that her son was “a good person, in every way. Whenever you came to him for help, he never said no. He always tried to help. He read a lot, and when his friends were thinking about opening a certain business, he would do research” on it to see if it was a good investment, she said of her son.
“He’s a person who always said, ‘If I want to look good, I have to work hard to look good.’ So he would work, he’d do anything, like cutting the yard if that’s what it came down to. He taught himself to be a construction worker. He was just a person who was always good with his hands.”