By admin 
The woman shot and killed during a deadly confrontation in the Iowa Hill area Sunday was a longtime member of the Placer County District Attorney’s Office, where she worked for more than a decade and remained closely connected to the agency after leaving in 2020.
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Cheryl (Barron) Macy, 76, was found shot to death inside a home as authorities searched the rugged Placer County foothills for Derek Robert Spencer, 44, of Sacramento County, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said Spencer killed Macy before fleeing into the heavily forested terrain.
The Placer County District Attorney’s Office identified Macy as a “beloved member” of its office family in a statement posted Monday evening.
Macy served with the office from 2006 through 2020 as an administrative clerk, according to public payroll records, but prosecutors said her relationship with the agency continued long after her employment ended.
“She was a valued colleague, a friend and a cherished member of our DA family,” officials in District Attorney Morgan Gire’s office said in the statement.
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The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office also issued a statement following Macy’s death, focusing in part on Spencer’s criminal history and his release from custody in the days before the killing.
Spencer was facing a criminal case in Sacramento County when the events in Placer County unfolded, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Spencer was charged Sept. 8 with felony assault with a deadly weapon likely to cause great bodily injury to a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy, attempting by threats and violence to deter a deputy from performing official duties, resisting arrest and vandalism.
At his Sept. 8 arraignment, a judge set bail. Prosecutors argued Spencer should remain in custody, according to the District Attorney’s Office, but he posted $10,000 bail and was released Sept. 11.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled Friday, but Spencer failed to appear, according to prosecutors. The court subsequently issued a warrant.
Spencer was arrested again by Folsom police on Sept. 14 on suspicion of burglary, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said. He was released on his own recognizance that day, with an arraignment scheduled the morning of the gunfight with a tactical team in Iowa Hill.
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Two days after his arrest by Folsom police, on Sept. 16, Spencer was arrested by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office on suspicion of vehicle theft. He was released on bail the next day, according to prosecutors. An arraignment on that arrest was scheduled for Wednesday.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said it was reviewing the arrest reports for both cases when the events in Placer County unfolded.
The Placer County District Attorney’s Office similarly pointed to Spencer’s arrests and releases in the days before Macy’s death, saying the circumstances raised questions about whether California’s current pretrial release laws and recent court decisions gave judges and others in the criminal justice system sufficient tools to keep dangerous defendants in custody.
Both offices specifically referenced a recent California Supreme Court decision involving bail and pretrial detention. The California Supreme Court ruled April 30 that jailing people before trial just because they cannot afford bail violates the state Constitution.
Sacramento County DA’s Office called for that decision to be overturned, saying prosecutors would continue arguing that repeat and dangerous offenders should remain in custody.
“Sadly, this should never have occurred but bail reform in California has prioritized criminal offenders over victims,” the Sacramento DA’s Office said. “Under the recent Kowalczyk decision, the California Supreme Court has limited judges’ ability to detain repeat offenders before trial even if they pose a danger.”
The Placer County office stopped short of calling for a specific legislative change in its statement, but said the circumstances surrounding Spencer’s releases raised questions that “cannot be ignored.”
“These circumstances raise serious questions about whether our current state laws and recent state court decisions regarding pretrial release policies provide sufficient tools to local judges and those working within the system to help prevent these tragedies,” Placer prosecutors said.
According to Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo, the manhunt ended shortly after 4:30 a.m. Monday after deputies engaged Spencer in a gunfight that lasted more than two hours. Deputies at times exchanged fire with Spencer from distances of roughly 27 to 30 feet while flames burned through the surrounding forest.
The Placer DA’s Office described Macy as a longtime member of its community, even after she left the agency in 2020. In its statement, the office said Macy — who, according to KCRA, had celebrated her birthday on Saturday — was a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, as well as a friend and colleague.
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This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 11:00 AM.