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Peter Bernardo Spencer, 29, of Pittsburgh, was found dead by Pennsylvania State Police in the front yard of a home at 279 Carls Road, Rockland Township, Venango County on Dec. 12, at 2:26 a.m., according to a release by the Venango County district attorney’s office.
Spencer had been invited by a Caucasian coworker to the cabin approximately 85 miles outside of Pittsburgh on Dec. 11, according to his family.
The coworker, only identified by police as a 25-year-old man, and three other people at the home were also detained and questioned, police said in a news release at the time of the incident. All four were released following their interviews with the Venango County district attorney’s office, according to a statement from the office.
Multiple firearms, ballistic evidence, controlled substances and other items were seized from the scene by police as stated in their release.
No one has been charged in connection with this crime, according to authorities.
An autopsy on Spencer was completed Dec. 14, but findings have not been released due to the pending return of toxicology and laboratory results, according to the DA.
Spencer was shot 9 times in a hate crime, according to his sister. “He was slaughtered and killed in what I consider an act of modern-day lynching,” his sister Tehilah Spencer wrote on a GoFundMe page.
Her campaign to help memorialize and cover funeral costs for her brother has raised $14,230 of a $20,000 goal as of Wednesday.
His pregnant fiance Carmela King has also started a GoFundMe campaign to help solve “the murder of a man who trusted his friend which resulted in him being executed by such.”
Her campaign has raised $36,447 of a $50,000 goal as of Wednesday.
“Peter (was) shot multiple times while in the presence of five white men. He was the only black individual at the campsite,” King writes.
Spencer loved the outdoors and although he was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he has lived in Pennsylvania full time since 2013, and previously lived in North Carolina, according to his family. He attended Balmagie and St Peter Claver primary schools and later St Andrew Technical High, according to Gleaner, a newspaper in Jamaica. He worked in construction and dreamed of opening a restaurant, his parents told the outlet.
“My son was not perfect, but he did not like anyone around him who did not work,” Spencer’s mother told the outlet. “He worked hard, and he was always encouraging others, motivating them to do better.”
He is survived by his parents, three brothers, a sister, and his fiance, according to Gleaner.
The investigation is on going.
“This office also takes seriously any possibility that a crime may be fueled by hatred toward a person because of their race, color, religion, or national origin,” Venango County District Attorney D. Shawn White said in a statement on Tuesday. “Rest assured, the Venango County District Attorney’s Office will take every measure to ensure that justice is sought wherever it may be found.”
If you want to donate to either GoFundMe campaign, you can do so here and here.
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