One Drunk From Murder

Meredith Lane and Spencer Hight met when they both attended the University of Texas at Dallas in 2009. 25 year old Spencer lived in the apartment below Meredith, who was 20. Spencer told a friend that he and Meredith had a fire, a chemistry between them. Within months, Meredith told her parents she found the man she was going to marry. 2 years later, Meredith and Spencer were married. Officially they were married in Collin County Texas in September 2011. But the following year, they exchanged vows in front of friends and family on a Jamaican Cruise. Several close friends from college stood up in their wedding. James Dunlop was Spencer’s best man, and Rion Morgan was a groomsman. It seemed like a match made in Heaven. Meredith documented their happiness on Instagram with pictures of home-cooked meals, watching Game of Thrones together, attending concerts. Meredith loved to cook, and she and Spencer often had people over for dinner. In 2015 she posted a picture of herself with Spencer and wrote “Pretty much what I live for.” Spencer took a contracting job at Texas Instruments as Software Engineer in Dallas. Meredith worked for Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages in Fort Worth. The couple purchased a home in 2015 in Plano, about 30 miles north of Dallas. But shortly after purchasing their home, Spencer lost his job. Meredith was very supportive and gave Spencer time to find another job, but the strain of shouldering the mortgage herself took a toll. A friend described Spencer a free-spirited guy who loved dogs, art and the Renaissance. But he also was a "party animal" who drank a lot and had a short temper. And he had guns and a love for knives and swords. Meredith’s mother, Debbie Lane, had thought of Spencer as a loving husband and a good partner to her daughter. But after he lost his job, Debbie began to notice something was off with the couple. When Meredith’s parents would visit, Spencer no longer joined them. He would retreat into his room and go on his computer. Spencer complained to friends that Meredith was hounding him to find a job. They noticed he had become cynical, bitter, and depressed. He was drinking more and more. And when he did, it was to the point of blacking out or almost vomiting on himself. One of their friends, Elizabeth Smith was quoted saying, “He always seemed to not have any hope for the world or America. Everything was shrouded for him. It was very rare that I ever saw him truly happy.” And Elizabeth said this about Meredith, “She just enjoyed life, and I think, in contrast, Spencer didn’t, and that was always hard for them to reconcile.” Meredith and Spencer began to drift apart, but that divorce was not something either took lightly. They went to counseling to save their relationship. Meredith suggested Spencer get treatment for his growing problem with alcohol. It seemed the only time Spencer seemed happy was when he was momentarily distracted from his everyday life, like when sitting around a fire with friends or at going to Renaissance festivals. By then end of 2016, the stress of being unemployed and the distance growing between him and his wife became overwhelming. Spencer started isolating himself from his family and friends. His father, Chester Hight reached out, asking Spencer to come home for a visit, but Spencer always has an excuse and would promise to come another time soon. Chester hadn’t seen his son in almost a year. In March of 2017, after 2 years of doing everything she could to support Spencer and hold their marriage together, Meredith asked him to move out. Spencer’s friend and best man, James Dunlop let him stay at his place for a few weeks while he found an apartment. In April, Spencer made this post on Facebook “And the hits just keep on coming. This has been my toughest year to date.” Another post from April read: “Wonderful ex wife left me stranded at the airport after swearing all week she would pick me up…And now she’s ignoring my calls. Typical. Welcome back to Dallas”. A friend commented on the post, surprised by the “ex-wife” reference. Spencer replied, “Things have gone completely tits up over the last few months.” Another post that was likely a reference to Meredith who was a redhead, said, “Very easy to believe gingers are completely soulless now.” In May he posted a cartoon, titled “When your ex-wife is choking.” It showed a man performing the Heimlich maneuver on a woman and then bending backward to slam her against the floor. But separating from Meredith wasn’t enough of a wakeup call. As weeks went by, Spencer’s drunkenness and despondency grew much, much worse. Friends tried to help by recommending counselors and rehabilitation facilities, but Spencer wasn’t interested. Meredith filed for divorce in July 2017 citing “discord or conflict of personalities". That’s when she finally admitted to her parents that Spencer had been violent with her at least twice. She told them about a time he slammed her face against a wall. Her parents were surprised and appalled. They fully supported her decision to end the marriage. The couple’s friends had also been unaware of Spencer’s violence behind closed doors. Meredith didn’t report the attacks to police, and she didn’t request a restraining order when she initiated divorce proceedings. She said she wasn’t afraid of him. The couple’s mutual friends said they want to choose sides in the divorce. Many reached out to Spencer, but he lashed out when they offered advice, and they began to cut their ties with him. In early September 2017, Spencer was messaging one of those friends online. He seemed sad and lonely, and tried to give him advice by saying he should try to make good choices and not use alcohol or drugs to get through. But Spencer kept asking her the same question over and over: "How can the one person you're supposed to love more than life itself end up being the one person you hate more than life itself?" Meanwhile, Meredith was ready to move on. Her mother Debbie was there the day Spencer came and picked up the last of his things from the house. Meredith was planning to host friends that Sunday to grill and watch the Dallas Cowboys play the New York Giants. Debbie was helping her arrange new furniture she had purchased. Debbie noticed that Meredith seemed happier than she had in years. It was obvious that she was ready to start fresh and was excited to host her first party herself. On Sunday, September 10, at around 8 p.m. officers were called to home in Plano for a weapons check after several people called 911 to report hearing gunfire. An officer responded and found 2 people down in the backyard of the home. Hearing more shots from inside, the officer entered the home where he encountered the gunman, 32 year old Spencer Hight. Spencer fired at the officer, who then shot and killed him. Police found 9 gunshot victims. 7 were dead and 2 were rushed to the hospital. Only 1 of them survived. Spencer shot and killed his estranged wife Meredith Emily Hight, who was 27 at the time. He also shot and killed Darryl William Hawkins, 22 James Richard Dunlop, 29 – who had been the best man at their wedding. Anthony Michael Cross, 33 Rion Christopher Morgan, 31 – who had been a groomsman at their wedding. Caleb Seth Edwards, 25 Myah Sade Bass, 28 and Olivia Nicole Deffner, 24 Carly Shockey, 25, was the only survivor. She was shot in the jaw. A witness named Crystal Sugg told reporters she saw an altercation involving a woman and the shooter about 7:45 p.m. “A man was arguing with a woman. They were standing outside and they were arguing. And as they were arguing you could kind of hear little pieces of it, but you really couldn’t. And as they were arguing, the woman was trying to go back in. And as she was going back in the house, you seen the man pull out his gun and just start releasing. So as he released I ran back in, because I didn’t want to get hit by nothing. But he just started letting them go.” Several people in the area reported hearing 30-40 shots. An autopsy report later revealed Spencer’s blood alcohol content at the time of his death was .33, four times the legal limit. Investigators discovered that just before the shooting, Spencer had been drinking at the Local Public House, a bar just a few blocks away from his Meredith’s home. He arrived at her house armed with a .38 caliber handgun, an AR-15 rifle and a folding knife. Police also found rounds of ammunition and binoculars inside his car, and another rifle with additional ammunition and gun accessories at his apartment. A few months later, the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission issued a report concluding that 27 year old bartender Lindsay Glass violated the “Sale to Certain Persons” law by serving Spencer. That law states a person is guilty of the offense if he or she negligently “sells an alcoholic beverage to an habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person.” In March 2018 the 3 of the victims’ families filed a lawsuit against the bar & bartender of negligence for over serving Spencer, who had been at the bar twice on the afternoon of the shooting. During his first visit at 2:39 p.m., he ordered two gin and tonics. Police believed Spencer went back to his apartment and continued drinking. He returned to the bar four hours later, at 6:38 p.m., and orderd a Miller Lite. A few minutes later, he ordered another Miller Lite and a shot of lemon vodka. A surveillance video from the bar showed Spencer playing with a large knife and showing it to bartender Lindsay Glass – who knew Spencer. Lindsay texted a fellow bartender, Timothy Banks, saying: "Spencer has a big knife on the bar and is spinning it and just asked for his tab and said I have some dirty work to go do. “ Then she put a worried emoji and “Uhhhhhhhh” then typed “ Psychooooooo" with 8 o’s Shortly after, Timothy Banks confronted Spencer on the bar's patio and Spencer pulled out a pistol. Timothy followed Spencer to his fcar to put the pistol away. According to Timothy, at one point Spencer "fell backward," so the he had to "propped him up.”. They went back to the patio and Timothy confronted Spencer about how drunk he was. Spencer responded, I "couldn't do the things I want to do tonight without being this intoxicated." Timothy spoke to the bar's owner, Jerry Owen, and asked if he should call the police, but Jerry said no. When Spencer refused to let Timothy give him a ride or call an uber, Lindsay and Timothy followed him. When he pulled up at Meredith’s house, Lindsay called 911. They heard gunshots a few minutes later. In April 2018 the civil suit against, Lindsay Glass was dropped, but then on the same day she was arrested and charged with selling "an alcoholic beverage to a habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person.” It is a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $500. A grand jury decided not to indict her. In July 2018, the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission reached an agreement with the Local Public House to cancel their permit. According to the agreement, the bar didn't admit to wrongdoing, and the permit holder wouldn't have to cancel any other active permits. Finally in 2021 a jury for the civil suit found Spencer 80% liable for the murders and the bar 20% responsible, and awarded Carly Stocky about $17 million to be paid by the bar. Sources: Heavy .com Nbc dfw.com Washington times .com CBS news .com Wfaa .com Fox 4 news .com Fox 7 Austin .com US 105 fm .com Dallas news .com edition.pagesuite.com Wikipedia