Hancock County woman killed by shotgun

Husband held without bond

By J.R. WELSH
jrwelsh@sunherald.com

HANCOCK COUNTY --

Investigators are releasing few details about the shotgun death of a north county woman that followed an apparent domestic dispute late Tuesday afternoon.

A Hancock County deputy went to the home of Audrey Spiers, 33, after a 911 dispatcher received a report of gunfire in a remote area off Caesar Necaise Road, in the extreme northeast county. There, Deputy Charles Lafontaine found Spiers dead of a gunshot wound shortly before 5:30 p.m.

Sheriff's Investigator John Bunce said the woman died of a wound from a 12-gauge shotgun. Her husband, 41-year-old James D. Spiers, was arrested.

"Mr. Spiers was at the scene" when Lafontaine arrived and called for assistance, Bunce said. Spiers did not resist arrest, he said.

Authorities would not discuss how the shooting occurred or what may have preceded the incident. Nor was it disclosed how long the couple had lived in the area, or if anyone witnessed the shooting.

Spiers was booked and held without bond at the Pearl River County Jail, pending a hearing. Officials gave the couple's address as Eugene Ladner Road in Perkinston. However, the home is actually located just inside Hancock County.

Investigators and crime scene experts from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are assisting sheriff's deputies in the investigation.