BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — A Blount County man who recently gained social media notoriety for recording his own shooting faces a federal court hearing Thursday on a complaint that alleges he enticed a young girl to cut herself and take nude photos.
Kyle Spitze, 24, is set for a status conference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill McCook Thursday morning in Knoxville. He’s currently being held in a Laurel County, Kentucky, jail as a federal detainee.
Federal court records suggest there are other suspects and perhaps other victims in an investigation that’s taken authorities to the darker corners of the internet.
It’s the latest twist in the life of a man who first gained police attention in August after his mother’s boyfriend shot him in the ear and then turned the gun on himself.
"I'm doing this interview so I can get the truth out, my side of the story."
In January, Spitze posted a video on social media he took of Jeffrey Scott West shooting him. It drew thousands of views on Twitter.
West shot Spitze as Spitze walked toward him filming the encounter on Aug. 25, 2023, during an argument at the home they shared on Quarry Hollow Road, police said.
Blood dripping from his wound, Spitze survived.
After Blount County deputies arrived at the home, West holed up and refused to cooperate. A SWAT team tried to negotiate with him; he turned the pistol on himself instead and died, according to authorities.
Police records obtained by WBIR show that Blount County Sheriff’s Office Detective Joe McCarter interviewed Spitze at the University of Tennessee Medical Center around 9:30 p.m. the day of the shooting.
"During my conversation with Spitze, he showed me a video on his cellphone that he had recorded of the shooting," McCarter wrote. "I observed the video which showed Spitze's point of view, West coming into his bedroom and talking about blowing his brains out."
Authorities haven't said why West pulled the gun on Spitze.
McCarter wrote that West then walks away and Spitze walks into the hallway and verbally confronts West.
"...at which point West points the gun at Spitze and pulls the trigger, firing a single shot," McCarter said in the report. "After the shot was fired, Spitze left the house and could be seen walking through the yard."
Later in the report McCarter noted that no charges were filed in the case because West died. West's death was officially ruled a suicide in November.
Spitze’s mother, Melanie Spitze, also could be seen in the video trying to talk to West and defuse the situation.
On Jan. 18, Spitze spoke to the Law and Crime Network about the viral video.
"I've been talking to a lot of people about it, I've been trying to tell my story to multiple people but not anybody important...so that's why I'm doing this interview so I can get the truth out, my side of the story," Spitze said to Law and Crime Side Bar host Jesse Weber.
Spitze also told Weber he was speaking out because he wanted to clear up confusion about his mother, Melanie, who wasn’t fully clothed in some parts of the video.
Ten days after his chat with Law and Crime, Melanie Spitze was dead.
Police: Spitze recorded video of his mother's body, posted it online
According to Knoxville Police records, Melanie Spitze was found dead at a hotel in Cedar Bluff on Jan. 28. Melanie's death report said she was found dead on the floor of a room at the OYO Hotel in Cedar Bluff.
An autopsy report shows the Medical Examiner's Office determined her death was not a homicide, and that she had fatal levels of fentanyl and also had pre-existing health conditions, as contributing factors.
The report also showed multiple syringes, pipes and cut straws were found in the room.
KPD spokesperson Scott Erland said KPD is aware of at least one video that Spitze took of his mother, after discovering she was dead, that he shared online.
According to police records, Spitze said he woke up around noon that day and found his mother unresponsive, with blood on a nearby bed.
One of Melanie's co-workers alerted police to the situation after they spoke with Spitze on FaceTime, police said.
Documents: Spitze was known as "criminal" when he communicated with pre-teens online
Federal court documents show the FBI requested a search warrant for Spitze's cell phone in February.
Once authorities seized the phone, they said they found sexually explicit material involving a minor, and that metadata on one of the videos of this minor contained information proving the minor is located out of Tennessee.
The FBI also said it found the social media app Telegram on Spitze's phone, along with messages between Spitze and the minor depicted in the sexually explicit content.
The FBI said Spitze went by the name "criminal" on the application.
The messages occurred between Jan. 29, the day after Melanie died, to Feb. 5.
According to the affidavit in the case, the minor sent a message that said “kyle,” and “criminal” replied: “Leave me alone…”
The FBI said Spitze’s iPhone contained thousands of messages between the minor and Spitze from July 2023 and October 2023.
Spitze is accused of distributing the minor's information on his Telegram account on Jan. 19, one day after he did the interview on the Law and Crime network.
He posted, in part, "she's in the content channel....cutting her tongue and nude."
When the FBI interviewed the minor about a month later, the minor said she was 12 years old when the images were taken, and that Spitze told her to do it.
The minor also told the FBI Spitze “demanded” she send self-harm images and videos of her on several occasions.
Spitze has yet to be indicted and is currently being held as a federal detainee in Laurel County, Kentucky.
FBI warnings public about dark web, dangerous online groups targeting young girls
The FBI declined to comment on Spitze's case, citing ongoing prosecution.
Last fall the FBI sent out a warning that said there are online groups "deliberately" targeting minors online and extorting them into recording or streaming self-harm, sexually explicit acts and suicide.
Authorities said those videos are then used to extort victims further and exert control over them.
"The violent online groups use many names, including 676, 764, CVLT, Court, Kaskar, Harm Nation, Leak Society, and H3ll, but continuously evolve and form subgroups under different monikers," the FBI said in a statement. "They operate on publicly available platforms, such as social media sites or mobile applications. To gain access to a majority of these groups, prospective members are required to live-stream or upload videos depicting their minor victims harming animals or committing self-harm, suicide, murder, or other acts of violence. The key motivators of these groups are to gain notoriety and rise in status within their groups."
The FBI said these groups target minors between the ages of 8 and 17 years old. They said the groups especially target members of the LGBTQ+ community, people of color and those with mental health issues.
In the alert, the FBI said parents can look for these signs of self-harm:
- Sudden behavior changes such as becoming withdrawn, moody, or irritable.
- Sudden changes in appearance, especially neglect of appearance.
- Changes in eating or sleeping habits.
- Dropping out of activities and becoming more isolated and withdrawn.
- Scars, often in patterns.
- Fresh cuts, scratches, bruises, bite marks, burns, or other wounds.
- Carvings, such as words or symbols, on the skin.
- Wearing long sleeves or pants in hot weather.
- Threatening to commit suicide and openly talking about death, not being wanted or needed or not being around
The FBI also said it warns people to be cautious while interacting with others online.