Toccoa Man Charged With Murder in 2018 Death of Toddler

In Franklin County, a Toccoa man is now charged with murder in the death of a toddler last year.

“On May 16, 2019, The Franklin County Sheriff served a felony arrest warrant on the person of Willie Deshone Spencer for the offense of murder,” Franklin County Sheriff Steve Thomas said. “The charges stem from an investigation that began on August 10, 2018. The investigation pertained to the death of a child under the age of eighteen years.”

Spencer has been held in the Franklin County Detention Center since last August on charges of Cruelty to Children in the First Degree.

Thomas said those charges were upgraded last week after his office received the final report from the GBI Medical Examiner’s office on the child’s cause of death.

On August 10th, 2018 deputies were called to a home on Williams Bridge Road off GA Highway 320 where a child had reportedly fallen from a stairway and was found unresponsive.

The Sheriff said a preliminary investigation determined that the toddler had injuries that were identified as physical child abuse.

Franklin County Emergency Medical Services transported the child to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

The toddler was later airlifted to Egleston Children hospital in Atlanta.  Thomas said the child died two days later.  The body was then sent to the GBI Medical Examiner’s office in Atlanta for autopsy.

According to the Sheriff, the Medical Examiner determined the toddler died as the result of trauma to the body and strangulation, and the death was ruled a homicide.

Thomas said the investigation is continuing with support from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, and the Franklin County Coroner’s office.