Sparks sentenced to 50 years in death of mother of four

GARRARD COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – A 25-year-old Richmond, Ky., man is sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing a mother of four almost two years ago.

Garrard County Circuit Court Judge Hunter Daugherty followed a prosecutor’s recommendation during sentencing this morning for David Sparks.

He’d pleaded guilty two weeks ago to murder in the January 5, 2019 death of 22-year-old Savannah Spurlock. He also pleaded to evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse.

The 50-year sentence covers all those charges, including 50 years for murder, five years for the tampering and 12 months for corpse abuse, all to run concurrent.

He will be eligible for parole in 20 years. The family of the mother of four tuned in to the virtual court hearing, including her father who was at her gravesite, but none of them made a statement.

Spurlock was last seen on the night of Jan. 4, 2019, her first night out a month after giving birth to twins.

Sparks was one of the men she was seen leaving a Lexington bar with.

Prosecutors did not say what prompted Sparks to kill Spurlock or how she died. The judge reviewed victims’ impact statements from the family before approving the sentence.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Andy Sims previously said he thought “justice was served” with the sentence.

Sparks and two other men who were on the video with Spurlock were first questioned on Jan. 9, 2019 and 13 days later, investigators searched his parents’ farm in Garrard County

Finally in July 2019, her body was found wrapped in a rug buried in a shallow grave on the property. Sparks’ father prompted the search when he reported an odor.

The rug wrapped around Spurlock’s body was similar to a rug Sparks had in his room, investigators said.