The Mexico Ledger has obtained a probable cause statement where 43-year-old Brandon Spears has been charged with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree arson, and armed criminal …
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The Mexico Ledger has obtained a probable cause statement where 43-year-old Brandon Spears has been charged with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree arson, and armed criminal action.
An apartment complex located in the 1200 block of West Breckenridge Drive caught fire before 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 23. According to Mexico Public Safety Spears lived in the building at the time. His mother, 60-year-old Ruth Stuart died in the fire.
According to the probable cause statement, the medical examiner believes Stuart suffered trauma to her head. The medical examiner also believes Stuart was still alive when the fire started.
Investigators said a resident in the 700 block of Fairground, less than a block from the apartment building heard a loud noise and found that someone had forced the back door to his garage door open but apparently left. On 12/30/2022 the resident discovered a club in his backyard near a gap in his fence. The club appeared to have hair stuck to it. A check of the video from a home on Quantico taken during the night of the fire, showed the fire burning at the apartment building then one person running southwest, away from the area of the resident's home.
Investigators have also linked Spears to a second fire that happened more than an hour later. Mexico Public Safety said the fire happened in a storage room in a warehouse in the 1000 block of East Elmwood Drive. According to court documents, a warehouse fire alarm went off around 2:30 a.m. Video from the warehouse shows Spears going into the building. He is later seen leaving in a warehouse uniform. Investigators found his clothes in an office near the storage room.
Anyone with information about Spears' whereabouts is asked to call CRIMESTOPPERS at 800-392-8477 or Mexico Public Safety at 573-581-2100.
