A Santa Cruz man who gunmen attempted to kill last December, was ambushed and shot multiple times at his home early yesterday morning.
Police said Stephen Joseph Spencer, 46, only returned to the area two months ago. The father of one lived alone in a modest house at Vickey Trace, La Canoa.
Residents reported hearing gunshots around 3 am but did not venture out to see what happened. Spencer’s body was discovered just after 6 am by a close male relative who went to check on him.
Police said it appeared that Spencer was shot through the locked front door, as he was found lying inside while the door remained padlocked on the outside.
Shaken and saddened over the killing, relatives and residents huddled in small groups yesterday, discussing the motive behind it.
A group of women stood together under a tree and recalled the kind of person Spencer was.
One woman said, “Sunday gone was his daughter’s birthday and he wanted to give her $1,700, as she was turning 17.”
She said Spencer, who worked with a regional corporation, had been working hard and scraping up whatever pennies he had to surprise his teen daughter.
“He used to go all out for her.”
Another woman said, “He was very cool, very full of life.”
A third chimed in, “He was real humble, not confrontational at all. Children did love him all how ... he was manners and respect, you had to give him that.”
They laughed as they recalled his love for pigtail.
“He loved he belly ... a typical man,” one declared, as the others nodded in agreement.
Residents, who asked not to be named, said yesterday’s shooting was the second time that gunmen had gone after Spencer. They claimed last December’s shooting reportedly occurred over a woman, and it was believed that yesterday’s killing was a continuation of that incident.
Spencer reportedly provided police with information about who had attempted to kill him last year but no one was ever arrested.
