Overview
- Video obtained by local outlets showed Spell crossing a road and repeatedly striking a 20-year-old neighbor on Tuesday, leaving the victim with a chin wound that required five stitches and prompting a second-degree battery charge.
- Spell bonded out of East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and told his congregation he acted to protect his family, invoking scripture as he defended the attack.
- Police records reviewed by reporters show Spell’s wife filed a May complaint that described a March incident in which the neighbor’s son allegedly followed and yelled at her.
- Central Police Department Chief Roger Corcoran said CPD’s records show only a few complaints over four years and that the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office led the investigation that resulted in the arrest.
- Spell faces up to eight years in prison on the battery charge, is due in criminal court on September 15, and the episode could spur civil suits and renewed scrutiny of how local complaints between the church and neighbors were handled.