Man accused of killing sex offender said police not doing enough against pedophiles, records allege

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A 24-year-old man is behind bars for murder, accused of targeting a registered sex offender.

James Lewis Spencer III was arrested by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force without incident on Wednesday, according to Houston police.

Early in the morning of May 29, 2023, someone driving in the 900 block of Northwood Street called 911 after finding a lifeless body in the ditch, later identified as 37-year-old Sean Connery Showers.

Surveillance video in the area allowed investigators to determine that a car drove up at about 3:50 a.m., stopped, and within four seconds fired numerous "automatic-like" shots and sped off, according to a search warrant.

Investigators said they found Showers' phone under his body and found that he had planned to meet up with someone at Montie Beach Park.

"(Spencer and Showers) were communicating using a social media app," Rehman Merchant, the chief prosecutor for the 179th District Court, said. "The communications were sexual in nature. The officers believe that they were meeting up at this park to engage in sexual activity."

Merchant said that based on the conversations on the Kik app, Spencer was posing as someone underage in the conversation.

"There are some communications on the phones or between the two about (Showers') dealings or past interactions with children or underage individuals," Merchant said.

Showers pleaded guilty to a federal charge of child porn possession in 2009 and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He was also required to register as a sex offender for life, records show.

In 2019, Showers was sentenced to two years in prison for failure to comply as a sex offender.

After phone records pointed investigators to Spencer, they were able to speak with his girlfriend, who said that he made comments around the time of the murder about pedophiles.

"Look, regardless of the likability of the victim, we're a nation of laws," Merchant said. "No one gets to be judge, jury, and executioner depending on how they feel."

"(A) third party states (Spencer) told them he believed police were not doing enough to keep pedophiles incarcerated and (Spencer) wanted to rob and harm those type of men because they would do bad things to little children and other people and he knew how to track them by an app on the phone," Spencer's bail order reads. "A month later, defendant made the same comment that 'if the cops were not going to do anything, maybe he should kill them himself.'"

Spencer's phone was tracked to and from the murder location, and he admitted to being at the murder location "a few times," records say.

"Based on the conversation he had with the girlfriend, that sort of comment he had made 'pedophiles' in the plural," Merchant said. "As of now, we're still investigating that."

Investigators are working to retrieve records from his phone to determine if he is connected to any other cases.

A judge set Spencer's bond at $250,000 and will require him to be on house arrest if he is released.

The district attorney's office filed a motion to have him held without bond, citing that he is out on bond for possession of a controlled substance charge in Brazoria County.

"To be frank, this is a planned execution," Merchant said. "I think he targeted an individual, he set up a meet, knew where he was going to be, and then discharged a weapon multiple times and then just went back home like nothing happened."

Spencer is due back in court on Feb. 5.

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