MILWAUKEE (CBS Newspath//WDJT/WKRC) – A woman was found dead with “brain matter visible” after her daughter allegedly beat her with a rock.
Carrie Zettel called 911 at 2:06 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12, reporting that her daughter, Lauren Spors, 29, was “being violent.” When police arrived 14 minutes later, they discovered Zettel with “severe trauma to her head with brain matter visible,” covered in blood near her home. A blood-stained rock was found in the grass near her body, and she was pronounced dead shortly after, per WTMJ.
Officers arrested Spors, who was covered in what was believed to be her mother’s blood. Neighbors speaking to WTMJ said they had seen Spors asleep in Zettel’s front lawn the morning prior to the attack, and was later seen pacing back and forth in front of the house around an hour before the incident, per the station’s report.
A 2018 petition for a temporary restraining order revealed Zettel had previously reported that her daughter “threatened life with a knife in hand after she struck her father repeatedly on [his] head with heavy decorative bottles.” Zettel also stated that her daughter had thrown heavy items at them and resisted staying at a halfway house. Zettel claimed her daughter had even put her father’s head through drywall. A neighbor reported that the father died a few days later, per WDJT-TV.
WTMJ reported that Spors violated a no contact order several times, but each time doctors determined she was not competent to move forward with court proceedings.
In a letter written shortly after her father’s death, Spors said, “I haven’t accepted my dad’s death. My mom says I killed him, but I don’t remember doing it.” She acknowledged acting out due to her mental illness.
When speaking to WITI, CEO of Sojourner Family Peace Center said, “the system has failed,” adding, “It does sound like she did everything we would suggest she do, and that’s what makes it even more painful.”
A complaint obtained by WITI states that friends said Zettel had told others that her daughter suffered from schizophrenia.
Criminal complaints indicate that Spors violated a domestic abuse injunction in March and April 2018. In December 2021, documents show she threw rocks through windows at 2 a.m. to enter Zettel’s home, leading to her arrest and charges of misdemeanor battery and theft.
According to WTMJ, Spors made a court appearance on Tuesday and faces life in prison if convicted.