Do you know who murdered Bridget Shiel? In the early morning hours of May 31, 2016, the body of 19-year-old Bridget Shiel, a female aspiring model, was discovered in a grassy area near a basketball court in Oakland City Park in southwest Atlanta. The scene was disturbing; she was found naked and had been shot multiple times in the back, buttocks, and legs. The investigation would later reveal she was shot seven times with specialized bullets known as 'radically invasive projectiles,' which are designed to fragment upon impact.
Authorities believed she was running for her life when she was gunned down. No purse or clothing were found at the scene, initially leaving investigators with very few leads to identify her or a suspect.
The night before her body was found, Shiel was last seen at a gas station on Memorial Drive in DeKalb County. Witnesses reported seeing her in the passenger seat of her own car with two unidentified men, looking visibly nervous. A 911 call was made around 1:00 a.m. reporting gunshots in the park, but responding officers found nothing at the time. The day after her body was discovered, her car was located behind a restaurant in DeKalb County, about 20 miles from the park. Near the vehicle, police found some of her clothing and a crucial piece of evidence: a Sprite bottle.
For two years, the case grew cold, leaving her family desperate for answers. A significant breakthrough came when a man named Christopher Spencer, a known member of the Rollin' 20s Crips street gang, was convicted and sent to prison for the execution-style murders of a DeKalb County couple in an unrelated home invasion that occurred in October 2016. As part of his processing into the state prison system, his DNA was taken and entered into the federal DNA database. This entry resulted in a match, linking Spencer's DNA to evidence found on Bridget Shiel's body and, critically, to the Sprite bottle found near her abandoned car.
On the second anniversary of Shiel's death, Atlanta police announced they had secured arrest warrants for Christopher Spencer, charging him with her murder. At the time of the announcement, Spencer was already serving a life sentence without parole for the other murders and was also a suspect in the killing of two children in Clayton County. Spencer was eventually indicted on charges of murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and hijacking a motor vehicle in connection with Shiel's death. Despite the DNA evidence, Spencer has denied ever knowing or having any contact with Bridget Shiel, and a motive for her killing has never been established by authorities. Police have also stated they are still seeking to identify the second man who was in the car with Shiel that night.
