Records: Woman wanted husband's autopsy to note injuries their daughter caused; 7 years later, daughter kills her with a rock
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The woman accused of beating her mother to death with a rock over the weekend made her first appearance in a Milwaukee County courtroom Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 15.
Lauren Spors, 29, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in connection to the death of her mother, Carrie Zettel, 64. Court records state a neighbor told Milwaukee police Sunday afternoon she watched Spors bash Zettel's head repeatedly with a rock in the backyard of Zettel's south side home.
Loretta Moyer, who was close friends with Zettel and considered her a second mom, said Zettel had long believed Spors had killed her father, Jeffrey, in January 2018.Autopsy records back up that statement.
CBS 58 obtained the investigation report from Jeffrey Spors' death from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office. The report noted Zettel had shared Lauren "hit the decedent over the head with two glass bottles."
However, the report also noted Jeffrey "was known to over medicate on his pain prescriptions." Moyer said investigators developed tunnel vision when ruling Jeffrey's death an accidental overdose.
"As soon as Carrie told the detectives Jeff was on medication, their whole thing just switched," Moyer said Wednesday. "They didn't care about anything else. It was just because he was taking pain medication."
The investigation report noted Zettel was angry with the medical examiner's conclusion. She wanted the final report to also note Jeffrey had staples in his head from Lauren's assault. She told investigators about past instances of abuse.
"Carrie stated their daughter would stomp on his head and bite him," the report relayed from an interview with Zettel.
Jeffrey was found dead three days after the bottle attack. His body was in Copernicus Park, less than one mile from the family's house. Moyer said Jeffrey would often walk or ride a bicycle through the park when he was upset, and she maintained both she and Zettel noticed Jeffrey hadn't been acting like himself in the days following Lauren's assault.
Moyer said Jeffrey refused to pursue charges against his daughter.
"He didn't believe that she belonged in jail," Moyer said. "He believed she belonged somewhere to get help for her mental illness, and so did Carrie."
Within three months of Jeffrey's death, Spors had been served with a domestic violence restraining order, and she was charged with violating the order twice. Both times, the court found Spors incompetent to stand trial.
Moyer said Carrie had tried to report multiple other instances of Spors violating the protective order, but the prosecutor working the case at that time, Kelly Hedge, declined to file additional charges.
During those 2018 hearings, Spors wrote to the court, "I haven't accepted my dad's death. My mom says I killed him, but I don't remember doing it."
While Spors was in and out of institutions and hospitals over the past seven years, Moyer said Zettel began to fear for her own safety more intensely. She said Zettle made a particularly haunting statement about two weeks ago.
"Carrie even said, she goes, 'Maybe if she kills me, she'll get the help she needs,'" Moyer said, "Carrie was hopeless at this point."
Zette's dog, Bebe, is now staying with her longtime friend, Loretta Moyer. Investigators say Zettel was murdered Sunday by her daughter, Lauren Spors.
On Sunday afternoon, Moyer played audio from a voicemail Zettel left her around 4 a.m. that morning. Zettel shared Spors had shown up at her house and was banging on doors and windows.
"Lauren was here just now, pounding on the doors, the windows. I called 911," Zettel's voice said on the voicemail. "The police came, and they caught her under a tarp and she ran away, so I don't know. They're still here. They're gonna try to look for her."
At Wednesday's hearing, court Commissioner Barry Phillips noted Spors' history of documented mental illness while also citing the severe nature of the charges when setting her bond at $100,000.
Phillips ordered Spors to undergo a forensic mental exam. The findings of that exam will be presented to the court at Spors' next hearing, which was set for November 21.