Woman pleads guilty to lesser charge in fatal shooting outside Bob’s Tavern in Finleyville
The woman who pushed a dead body out of her car while fleeing the scene after her friend was shot and killed in the passenger seat as they were leaving Bob’s Tavern in Finleyville in 2022 pleaded guilty to a lesser charge last week.
Maurissa Larae Spencer, who was facing a homicide charge in connection with the fatal shooting of Jaisen Irwin, appeared before Judge John DiSalle in the Washington County Courthouse on June 24 and pleaded guilty to one felony count of hindering prosecution for destruction of evidence.
DiSalle immediately sentenced Spencer, 27, of Library, to serve just under 1 to 2 years in jail in a plea deal negotiated with prosecutors in which the homicide and a related conspiracy charge were withdrawn, along with two misdemeanor counts. Spencer will be given credit for time served for the five months she spent in the Washington County jail following her arrest four days after the Oct. 10, 2022, shooting that killed Irwin.
Spencer and Irwin, 29, of Monessen, were hanging out hours earlier that night at Jim’s Bar in Monongahela when an argument ensued between the victim and another group of customers. One man threw his drink at Irwin and the argument spilled out onto the sidewalk along West Main Street as the bartender kicked the feuding groups out.
Irwin and Keaundre Crews, who was with the other group, briefly squared up to fight outside, but no blows were exchanged and the two groups eventually went their separate ways.
Spencer drove Irwin to Bob’s Tavern on Route 88 in Finleyville for a drink, but as they got in her car to leave the bar, multiple gunshots were fired at Irwin while he sat in the passenger seat as an assailant walked up to the vehicle and opened fire. Irwin was struck by six bullets and grazed by a seventh as Spencer sped away from the parking lot.
Spencer stopped a short distance away from the bar, where she pushed Irwin’s body out of the vehicle and left it on the side of the road in the 3600 block of Washington Avenue in Finleyville. Monongahela police officers, who patrol Finleyville and were initially called to Bob’s Tavern for the report of shots fired, found Irwin’s body about 90 minutes after the shooting.
Spencer also discarded Iriwn’s cellphone – investigators never recovered it – throwing it from her vehicle as she drove away, while she also never called 911 to report the shooting.
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said Wednesday that the hindering prosecution charge to which Spencer pleaded guilty stemmed from her pushing Irwin’s dead body out of her car and discarding his cellphone after leaving the scene.
Crews was later charged with homicide in connection with the fatal shooting, but he was acquitted on all charges following a five-day trial in February. Spencer testified during the trial on behalf of the prosecution, but she was unable to identify the shooter. No one else has been charged in connection with Irwin’s killing.
Spencer had been free on unsecured bond since March 2023 when she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. After her guilty plea last week, she was immediately taken to the Washington County jail to serve her sentence.
Spencer’s defense attorney, Blair Jones II, could not be reached for comment Wednesday to discuss the plea deal.