CA - Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood, 2, "Suspicious" death ruled homicide, Senora, 15 Jan 2019

[borndem]

Family Hopeful for Arrest After Boy's Death — Initially Called 'Suspicious' — Is Declared Homicide
Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood’s death was originally thought to be caused by the flu, but his family never believed it

By Elaine Aradillas
October 21, 2019 03:00 PM

Nicole Sparks had left her toddler son in the care of a babysitter so she could go to work when she heard the boy was sick, she told multiple local news outlets.


Sparks and the caregiver, who has not been publicly identified, took Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood to a nearby emergency room in Senora, Calif., where he was described as unresponsive. He was then airlifted to University of California Davis Children’s Hospital on Jan. 15, the Union Democrat reports.

Koltyn, who was nearly 2, was pronounced dead later that day.

Family Hopeful for Arrest After Boy's Death — Initially Called 'Suspicious' — Is Declared Homicide

 

[borndem]

Search On For Suspect In Suspicious Death Of Toddler
by Rick Boone
October 18, 2019 at 11:33 pm
SONORA (CSB13) — Police are searching for a suspect in the death of a toddler. He went to the hospital with flu-like symptoms, but 10 months later, Sonora cops call it murder.

The family never believed that the flu killed Koltyn. Now they feel they could be getting close to the arrest of the real person responsible.

Search On For Suspect In Suspicious Death Of Toddler

 

[borndem]

I just saw this tonight, although the little guy died in January. It looks like LE was waiting on the autopsy results before they got involved.
Blunt force trauma -- what else??
Another darling, innocent angel where there are already too many. A beautiful creation of love.

A curious thing, IMO, at this point -- apparently mom left him with a babysitter, but the family gave LE "a list of suspects." Maybe Koltyn was left with a family consisting of several caregivers. Some churches and other groups do a "Mother's day out" type thing. Maybe this is similar to where he was left that day -- or simply a day-care drop-in type place. Dunno. Finding a suspect might take a while if Mom didn't leave him with one specific person. What a nightmare.

 

[Filly]

Indeed. It originally said mom and the caregiver took Koltyn to the ER. Hmmm.

Scarry, and awful and yes a nightmare.

 

[Thatgirlagain]

This case really pulls my heartstrings and makes me angry at the same time. I live in the area where this happened and I have noticed fresh posters of "Justice for Koltyn" going up and pleas for new information are being posted to Facebook, etc. The general feeling is that there are people involved that know more but just won't say.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A judge ruled Tuesday that a Sonora man must stand trial on a charge of murder in the death of Waterford toddler Koltyn Blackwood in 2019.

Joseph Luke Maloney, 26, is accused of injuring the boy while babysitting him. The decision followed a preliminary hearing that started March 4 in Tuolumne Superior Court.

Judge Donald Segerstrom delayed until Friday his ruling on whether Koltyn’s mother, 23-year-old Nicole Sparks, of Waterford, should be tried on a charge of child abuse likely to produce great bodily harm and death.

Sparks is not accused of assaulting Koltyn, but the prosecution said she put him at risk by leaving him with a man who might be violent. Maloney was Sparks’ boyfriend at the time of the child’s death.

The prosecution said it does not know exactly how Koltyn was assaulted, but the result was a ruptured liver that led to his death the next day.
https://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article249794363.html

 

[borndem]

Glad to see some progress in this case.
Thanks to @imstilla.grandma for the post.

Mom must have been in a real bind to ask Maloney for help with little Koltyn -- can you imagine how she must feel?

Blunt force trauma -- of course. Fists at a deadly velocity. No chance to recover. And asking "Why?" is folly. Dammit.

Fly high, little guy, and rest in peace.

 

[ifindedout]

Only updates I can find.
From April 2023.

Tuolumne County judge denies request to move trial for accused killer of Waterford toddler

A Tuolumne County Superior Court judge on Tuesday denied a request to move the murder trial of a Sonora man accused of killing Waterford toddler Koltyn Joshua Sparks in 2019.

www.uniondemocrat.com

A Tuolumne County Superior Court judge on Tuesday denied a request to move the murder trial of a Sonora man accused of killing Waterford toddler Koltyn Joshua Sparks in 2019.

Joseph Luke Maloney, 28, who has been held behind bars on $1 million bail for more than two years since his arrest in January 2021, can’t get a fair trial in Tuolumne County because of pretrial publicity and social media saturation that includes a Facebook page called “Justiceforkoltyn,” his Jamestown-based defense attorney, Charles Smith, told Judge Donald Segerstrom.

Maloney is charged with with second-degree murder, assault on a child causing death, child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury, and an enhancement of causing great bodily injury to a child under age 5. He could face as much as 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

From March 12, 2021 (paywall): Sparks won't face trial
https://www.modbee.com/news/local/crime/article249904473.html