Caitlin Spence is currently serving a five-year sentence of supervised probation through the Mississippi Department of Corrections. She lives a quiet, private life outside the public eye with her young daughter, Enola. In late March 2026, Judge Kelly Luther of the Tippah County Circuit Court handed Spence a 20-year prison sentence for accessory after the fact to capital murder, but the court suspended the entirety of her prison term. The decision followed her extensive courtroom testimony against her father, Jeffrey Spence, who was convicted of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of 36-year-old businessman Kirby Carpenter. Here’s everything we know about Caitlin Spence and where she is today.
The case captured national headlines after NBC’s Dateline chronicled the tragic homicide in an episode titled “The Betrayal of Kirby Carpenter.” The true-crime special brought renewed focus to the strange family dynamics that unraveled in rural Mississippi between late 2022 and early 2026. While Caitlin Spence avoided spending decades behind bars, her life changed forever after she made the frantic 911 call that set the multi-year investigation into motion.
| Subject or Attribute | Verified Record | Legal or Case Status | Factual Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Subject | Caitlin Spence | 5-Year Supervised Probation | Girlfriend of Kirby Carpenter and daughter of Jeffrey Spence |
| Homicide Victim | Kirby Carpenter (Age 36) | Deceased (November 30, 2022) | Dry cleaner owner and precious metals dealer in Dry Creek, MS |
| Convicted Shooter | Jeffrey Spence (Father) | Life in Prison Without Parole | Found guilty of first-degree murder in March 2026 retrial |
| Co-Defendant Mother | Karen Spence | Guilty Plea | Plead guilty to accessory after the fact to grand larceny |
| Shared Child | Enola Carpenter | Living with Mother | Born in July 2022, four months before the homicide |
| Plea Agreement | Accessory After the Fact | 20-Year Sentence Suspended | Cooperated with state prosecutors and testified at trial |
| Investigative Feature | NBC Dateline | National Broadcast | Featured in the episode titled “The Betrayal of Kirby Carpenter” |
Where is Caitlin Spence now?
Caitlin Spence lives under active supervised probation in the state of Mississippi, where she must report regularly to state corrections officers and maintain clean legal standing. She hasn’t returned to public life or social media since her sentencing in March 2026. Instead, she remains focused on providing a stable upbringing for her daughter Enola, who was only four months old when Kirby Carpenter died.
Because Judge Kelly Luther suspended all 20 years of her state prison sentence, Spence won’t serve additional time behind bars as long as she satisfies all probationary conditions through 2031. She previously spent approximately 16 months locked up in local custody following her arrest in Pennsylvania in November 2023. Family acquaintances report that she stays closely bonded with her child, choosing a solitary lifestyle far removed from the courtroom drama that dominated her family for three years.
For full details on her father’s conviction and prison placement, read our complete breakdown on Jeffrey Spence Now: Where Is Kirby Carpenter’s Killer Today?.
What happened to Kirby Carpenter in Tippah County?
Kirby Carpenter was a hard-working 36-year-old entrepreneur who ran a regional dry cleaning operation and actively traded in valuable scrap gold, coins, and precious metals. He shared a home with Caitlin Spence in the tight-knit rural community of Dry Creek, located just outside Booneville in Tippah County, Mississippi. Friends and colleagues knew Carpenter as an ambitious provider who carried cash and precious collectibles in an everyday satchel.
On December 2, 2022, at approximately 12:30 PM, Caitlin Spence dialed 911 to report that she had discovered Carpenter’s body lying near the garage of their property. Investigators who arrived on the scene realized Carpenter hadn’t died from an accident. Someone had shot him with a shotgun on November 30 and concealed his body beneath a canvas curtain, a tarp, and a heavy commercial toolbox. Carpenter’s valuable satchel and collectible coins were completely missing from the house.
How did investigators solve the murder?
The investigation stalled for nearly a year while local sheriff’s deputies and state investigators ran down leads on potential robbery suspects. Following the funeral, Caitlin Spence moved out of Mississippi and relocated with her infant daughter to stay with her parents, Jeffrey and Karen Spence, in Saltville, Virginia. Her parents had stayed at Carpenter’s Mississippi home for four months following Enola’s birth, departing only three days before the shooting took place.
A crucial breakthrough arrived in November 2023 when a tipster named David Barnes contacted authorities. Barnes revealed that Caitlin Spence had confided in an acquaintance that her father, Jeffrey Spence, pulled the trigger and killed Carpenter. Tippah County investigators quickly coordinated with out-of-state law enforcement agencies. Officers arrested Caitlin, Jeffrey, and Karen Spence across Pennsylvania and Virginia, taking all three family members into custody on murder, conspiracy, and grand larceny charges.
What happened during the 2026 trial of Jeffrey Spence?
Jeffrey Spence faced a retrial in March 2026 after his initial trial in September 2025 ended in a hung jury. During the second trial, state prosecutors presented a compelling timeline demonstrating that Jeffrey had quietly driven back to Mississippi immediately after leaving for Virginia in late November 2022. Caitlin Spence served as the state’s star witness, taking the witness stand to recount what her father told her following the homicide.
“My father told me to keep my mouth shut. He warned me that if I ever said anything about what happened, I would lose custody of my daughter forever.”
— Caitlin Spence during courtroom testimony, Tippah County Circuit Court
Caitlin told jurors that while she knew about the killing after her father confessed the act to her, she didn’t help plan the ambush or pull the trigger. On March 27, 2026, the Tippah County jury returned a unanimous verdict, finding Jeffrey Spence guilty of first-degree murder. Judge Luther sentenced him to life in prison without parole, remanding him to the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville.
What was Caitlin Spence’s plea deal and sentence?
Caitlin Spence reached a formal plea agreement with the district attorney’s office in April 2025, pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to capital murder. Under the negotiated agreement, she agreed to provide truthful testimony at all proceedings involving her co-defendants. In exchange, the state recommended leniency taking into account her cooperation and lack of direct physical involvement in the fatal assault.
During her sentencing hearing later in March 2026, Judge Kelly Luther accepted the state’s recommendation. The court entered a 20-year sentence but suspended all 20 years, ordering Spence to complete five years of formal supervised probation. Because she had already spent 16 months in pretrial confinement, she walked out of the courtroom without serving additional prison time.
Where is Kirby Carpenter and Caitlin Spence’s daughter today?
Enola Carpenter remains in the custody and care of her mother, Caitlin Spence. The young girl was just an infant when her father lost his life in 2022, and she has grown up away from the intense media spotlight that surrounded her father’s estate and the subsequent murder trials. Kirby’s relatives previously sought welfare checks and estate support to protect the child’s financial future.
Today, Caitlin Spence lives quietly and focuses entirely on protecting Enola’s well-being. With both of Enola’s grandparents convicted in court and her father gone, Spence has kept her circle extremely tight to give her daughter as normal a childhood as possible.
Did you watch the NBC Dateline special on Kirby Carpenter’s murder? Share your thoughts on the case in the comments below.
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