PROSECUTOR: Principal Criminal Attorney Sam Nong, Homicide Unit
On May 31, 2025, the Honorable Maryanne Gilliard sentenced LaShawn Sparks to 85 years to life in prison. On April 8, 2025, a jury convicted Sparks of the second-degree murder of a 3-year-old child and assault resulting in the death of a child under 8 years old. The jury also found true that Sparks has prior strike convictions for first-degree burglary and robbery.
On February 6, 2023, the victim’s family was staying at a motel in Sacramento. Sparks told the child’s mother that he was taking the child out to buy snacks from a nearby convenience store and would be back shortly. Motel surveillance footage showed the child walk out of the room and get into the car with Sparks. The mother reported that the child had no visible injuries and was fine when he left. Sparks disappeared for two hours with the child. Sometime during that two-hour period, Sparks beat and assaulted the child. When the child returned to the motel, surveillance footage showed the child slumped over Sparks’ shoulder. The next morning, the mother was woken up by Sparks telling her the child was not breathing and 911 was called. The child was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased upon arrival. Investigators found the child’s blood on the motel room bed and inside the car. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be blunt force injuries to the head and neck area.
