"Treated Her Like My Queen" TV Bailiff Renard Spivey Gives First Interview After Wife's Murder Acquittal

HOUSTON — Renard Spivey sat across from a "48 Hours" interviewer carrying a burden that has followed him since a gunshot shattered a summer night in 2019 and left his wife dead on the floor of their home.

The former Harris County deputy and television bailiff used the interview to repeat a claim he has stood by for years: Patricia Spivey's death was a tragic accident, not murder. A jury agreed in 2023, finding him not guilty after prosecutors accused him of intentionally killing his wife during a confrontation at the couple's Houston residence.

Emotion surfaced quickly during the conversation. "I love my wife. I did everything for her. Anything she wanted, I always treated her like my queen," Spivey said. His appearance marked the first extended television interview since the case transformed a familiar television personality into the focus of a criminal trial. As reported by CBS News, Spivey told "48 Hours" he still struggles with what happened and insists the shooting occurred during an attempt to take a firearm away from his wife.

Spivey told interviewer Natalie Morales that the evening began with an argument about their marriage and suspicions of infidelity. He said Patricia followed him into a closet while holding a gun and that the weapon discharged after he grabbed for it. Spivey said he was shot in the leg before more rounds were fired during the fight for control of the firearm.

Patricia Spivey, 52, died from gunshot wounds. Security footage, 911 recordings, forensic findings, and testimony from relatives and friends became major pieces of a courtroom battle that stretched across years. Prosecutors argued the physical evidence did not support an accidental shooting, while defense attorneys contended the gunfire erupted during a chaotic encounter over the weapon.

Some observers remained unconvinced after hearing that account. Former prosecutor Lisa Andrews pointed to factors that troubled investigators, including the number of shots fired and portions of the 911 call that she believed raised doubts about the accidental shooting explanation. Authorities also challenged whether forensic evidence matched the version of events presented by the defense.

Jurors, however, were asked to decide whether prosecutors had proven murder beyond a reasonable doubt, not whether every mystery had been resolved. After hearing weeks of testimony, they returned a not guilty verdict, ending the criminal prosecution.

Television fame added another dimension to the case. Long before his arrest, Spivey appeared as a bailiff on "Justice for All with Judge Cristina Perez," giving the proceedings an audience larger than most local homicide trials receive. People who recognized him from daytime television watched as a man associated with courtroom order became the defendant in a courtroom drama of his own.

The verdict closed the legal case but never produced a single accepted version of what happened inside that closet. Family members, former prosecutors, defense lawyers, friends, and television viewers continue to view the shooting through sharply different lenses. That divide helps explain why Patricia Spivey's death still draws attention years after the gunfire stopped.