Man charged in fatal hit-and-run of 6-year-old boy in Cumberland
A 22-year-old Cumberland man has been charged in connection with a hit-and-run that killed a 6-year-old boy, police say.
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Tyler Johnson, 22, is charged with leaving the scene of the accident that killed Jari Spencer, 6.
Spencer died at a hospital after being hit around 2:35 a.m. Sunday near the intersection of East Washington Street and German Church Road in the town that straddles the border of Hancock and Marion counties.
Waggoner said the crash was believed to be accidental. “We know the Spencer family is hurting and now we have another family that is hurting with another young person going to jail for the responsibility of this.”
Waggoner said investigators used license-plate readers and video from the area of the crash, which was near the police station, to find the 2004 Chevrolet Aveo involved in the crash. The car had been sold two weeks earlier, and the previous owner helped investigators find the current owner.
Police found Johnson driving the car Monday on Cumberland Road near 21st Street prior to his arrest.
Waggoner said, “I can’t say why people do what they do. I think, again, this is a 22-year-old. He’s scared. I think he realizes the gravity of the situation, maybe not fully yet, but it’s imperative if he had stopped, this would have been a very different situation.”
Police say Spencer, who had been diagnosed with autism, had walked away from home unnoticed before the car hit him. The Spencer family told police that Jari loved walking to the Dollar Tree store and a nearby park. They believe he was walking that way.
Nigel Foreman frequents the same park. He is heartbroken by the incident, especially because he says he is a father with a child who is autistic. “You have to be a lot more attentive than you would with any other child. You just have to be very patient, very kind. And that’s why it’s sad, especially if he was nonverbal. That’s really what makes it even more sad. I know it’s probably really hard on the family.”
Safe Streets Indy says 13 pedestrian fatalities have happened this year on Washington Street, up from 11 fatalities in 2025. Within a mile radius of the hit-and-run, four fatalities and 36 bike and pedestrian accidents have been recorded.
“And so what ends up happening in a street like Washington Street is you have a lot of lanes, high-speed traffic. It’s a long distance for pedestrians to have to cross, so it becomes a ticking time bomb,” said Eric Holt, Safe Streets Indy. Holt said more needs to be done by the city to make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Cumberland is a town of 8,000 residents.
An initial hearing for Tyler Johnson is set for Friday at 9 a.m.
