Milwaukee mother killed with rock, court documents reveal daughter’s violent past
By Hannah Hilyard
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MILWAUKEE (WISN) — A Milwaukee mother is dead after police said someone hit her with a rock in her own backyard.
The medical examiner identifies the woman as 64-year-old Carrie Zettel. On Monday, WISN 12 News obtained a search warrant that identifies the suspect as 29-year-old Lauren Spors, Zettel’s daughter.
“She called me at 3:53 this morning,” close family friend Loretta Moyer said. “Lauren was here beating on the doors, throwing rocks, trying to break in. She called the police.”
Less than 12 hours later, police returned to Zettel’s home near South 23rd Street and West Ramsey Avenue to find a violent crime scene.
The search warrant revealed that Zettel called 911 at 2:06 p.m. Sunday, claiming her daughter was “being violent.”
MPD District 6 officers responded and found Zettel dead.
“It happened in the backyard, and she beat her mother to death with a rock,” said Susan Henderson-Hoffmann, another family friend.
The warrant states that officers found Spors “covered in blood” and arrested her.
“I cannot believe Carrie is gone, but you want to know something? I’m not surprised,” Henderson-Hoffmann said.
She’s not surprised based on Spors’ violent past. 12 News uncovered a trail of run-ins with the courts.
In 2018, Zettel was granted a restraining order against her daughter after penning a handwritten plea detailing her fears of Spors, who struggled with mental health issues. Court records show Spors is accused of violating that order four times. Each time, Spors was found incompetent for the case to move forward.
Court documents show she was taken to the county mental health facility after the fourth event, when she had “thrown a rock through one of the double pane windows” at Zettel’s home. Public records do not indicate how long she was held.
“The girl should have been stopped years ago, and I don’t understand why. And that angers me,” Henderson-Hoffmann said.
Zettel’s restraining order against her daughter expired in 2022.
Spors has not yet been formally charged in Sunday’s crime. Police booking records show she is in custody for first-degree intentional homicide.
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