Houston deputy acquitted in wife’s fatal shooting, claimed self-defense

Renard Spivey told investigators he was trying to protect himself when a fight over a gun turned deadly inside his southwest Houston home. A Harris County jury later acquitted the former sheriff’s deputy in the killing of his wife, Patricia Ann Marshall Spivey, a 52-year-old mother found dead in a master bedroom closet on Briscoe Street.

Houston police said the shooting unfolded around 3:10 a.m. on July 28, 2019, in the 5000 block of Briscoe Street. Spivey called 911 about two minutes later and said he and his wife had been arguing all day and were “tussling with the gun” when it accidentally fired. First responders found Patricia dead from multiple gunshot wounds and Spivey with a bullet wound in his leg.

The physical evidence gave prosecutors and jurors a sharply different reconstruction to consider. Investigators reported finding three shell casings and a semi-automatic pistol on top of a hamper near the closet door. The autopsy showed Patricia had been shot twice, once in the arm and once in the chest, and court records said the chest bullet passed through her heart and lung. Minor bruising on her wrists was also noted.

Spivey’s profile added unusual visibility to a case already marked by intimate allegations and conflicting accounts. He was not only a Harris County sheriff’s deputy, but had also worked as a courtroom bailiff on Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez, a detail that helped turn the case into a national talking point. He was booked into the Harris County Jail on a murder charge on July 29, 2019.

Testimony and court records pointed to a marriage under strain. Patricia had suspected Spivey might be using steroids again or seeing someone else, while Spivey reportedly told Patricia’s brother that she had been counting his low-testosterone pills and accusing him of sleeping with another woman. Patricia’s 83-year-old father, who had dementia, was in the home and asleep when the gunfire erupted.

Jurors were asked to decide whether the shooting fit Spivey’s self-defense narrative or the prosecution’s view that the evidence pointed elsewhere. They chose acquittal in December 2023. Patricia’s daughter, Patrina Marshall, said she was stunned and shut down after learning her mother had died, while the Harris County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately comment after the verdict.