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Sugar Cookie

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Koltyn Sparks’ family had fought for him, passionately sought answers and shined a consistent light on what they say was a preventable death.

Now, 118 days later, the Sonora Police Department has confirmed Koltyn died from a blunt injury.

“We fought for that report for so long but then it solidified what we already knew,” Koltyn’s grandmother Tracy Gulcynski said.

Gulcynski says on Jan. 15, Koltyn had been left with a 25-year-old man, known to the family, who had only taken care of the boy a couple of times.

That day, the child was flown to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento where he died -- just three weeks shy of his second birthday.

“It states in the medical reports from day one this could not be an accidental death,” Gulcynski said.

Gulcynski says the hospital’s report states Koltyn was possibly smothered, and that the man who had taken care of her grandchild has been silent.

“There’s been no communication to us about that night, at all,” she said.

No suspects have been named. The Sonora Police Department would not comment further on the case.
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I feel like this story was done but I cannot locate it through the search.
 
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Sonora Police Chief Turu VanderWiel confirmed on Thursday that his department is investigating the death of 22-month-old Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood in January as a homicide.

VanderWiel said in late June the case was considered a “suspicious death,” but he was not ready to call it a homicide.

“We hope to close the case soon, but I cannot provide a date or time frame for that,” VanderWiel said in an email on Thursday.

The development comes more than 10 months after Koltyn died due to blunt trauma.

Koltyn was being cared for by someone at a South Shepherd Street home while his mother worked.

Sparks and the caregiver took Koltyn to the emergency room at Adventist Health Sonora in January for flu symptoms, but he was found to have severe brain and internal organ damage.

The boy was unresponsive when he was airlifted to University of California Davis Children’s Hospital early in the morning of Jan. 15 and died that afternoon.

It took five months for the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office to complete an autopsy report, which determined the cause of death as blunt trauma.

While waiting for the autopsy report, the boy’s family began raising awareness about the case through their “JusticeForKoltyn” Facebook page and staging protests, including one in downtown Sonora’s Courthouse Square and one outside of the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office.
 

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Wednesday marked one year since 23-month-old Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood died from a blunt injury.

“He was prized from the minute he was born,” said Sparks-Blackwood’s grandmother, Tracy Gulcynski. “Everybody loved him. He was a very, very sweet child.”

Gulcynski said she remembers her young grandson for his fun-loving nature.
On Wednesday, family, friends and supporters demonstrated outside of the Tuolumne County courthouse to shine a light on his case. From printed shirts and handmade signs, they were doing all they could to keep the toddler's memory alive.

“Instead of sitting home and mourning, we're out here trying to make a difference,” Gulcynski said.
Gulcynski said she was hoping the demonstration would bring awareness to the case and possibly bring in tips that can help police in their investigation.

“Even if we get an arrest and then a long process to getting a conviction, our pain will never go away because we'll never get him back,” Gulcynski said.
Sonora Police Chief Turu VanderWiel shared a statement with FOX40 about the investigation:

We are still trying to piece together certain aspects of the investigation regarding the injuries that led to Koltyn’s death one year ago. Due to the nature of this investigation, we hadn't anticipated a quick outcome, and I don’t know when this investigation will be complete. What we do know is that somebody caused this child’s death, and we are working very hard to solve the case.

Our hearts go out to Koltyn’s family, and we understand that their pain and frustration must be indescribable.
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October 18, 2019
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.

Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood was just two months short of his second birthday when he died. His family said he was born with a glowing spirit which they refuse to forget.

The toddler was rushed to the hospital in January of this year after his mother dropped him off with his babysitter in Sonora. Not long after, Koltyn died. At the time, his cause of death was believed to be the flu, but some members of his family felt Koltyn’s death was related to more than a sickness.

Five months later, Sonora police announced a change in Koltyn’s cause of death, saying it was now suspicious. But, the cops did not label a suspect or a motive.

“It’s something wrong with our world, our society when there’s so many people in our boat,” Tracy Gulcynski, Koltyn’s grandmother, said.

Now on the eve of a celebration of his life, comes a new revelation. This week police said Koltyn was murdered and they are now investigating a homicide.

The family has a potential list of suspects which they chose to keep private. Instead, they are now working to raise money to build a legal fund to aid police in finally finding Koltyn’s killer. They started a Facebook page, Justice For Koltyn, as a way to get help.
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Child abuse charges have been filed against two people after a 23-month-old died in 2019 from a blunt injury.

The Sonora Police Department says 23-year-old Nicole Sparks and 26-year-old Joseph Maloney both face charges for their roles in the death of Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood. Maloney is accused of causing the injury that led to the boy’s death.

Back in January 2019, the toddler was allegedly in the care of his mother’s then-boyfriend when he was found unresponsive. Sparks-Blackwood was flown to UC Davis Medical Center, where he died just three weeks shy of his second birthday.

Police confirmed Maloney was arrested at his Sonora home Monday. Sparks turned herself in Tuesday morning, officials said.

Maloney has been charged with second-degree murder, assault on a child causing death, and child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death. His bail has been set at $1 million.

Sparks has been charged with child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death. Her bail is $25,000.
 
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Instead of sitting home and mourning, we're out here trying to make a difference,” Gulcynski said.Gulcynski said she was hoping the demonstration would bring awareness to the case and possibly bring in tips that can help police in their investigation.
I wonder if the grieving family were so sure it was someone else or they all along wanted police to arrest the child's mother and DOTM?
 
Koltyn Blackwood had bruises all over his body, as well as brain and liver injuries, medical experts said in court.

Their testimony took up the first two days of a preliminary hearing in Tuolumne Superior Court. It will decide whether two defendants stand trial for the January 2019 death of the Waterford toddler.

Joseph Luke Maloney, 26, is accused of inflicting the injuries while babysitting Koltyn at his Sonora home. He could get up to life in prison if convicted on the charges of second-degree murder and child abuse.

Koltyn’s mother, 23-year-old Nicole Reanne Sparks of Waterford, faces a child abuse charge that could bring up to six years in prison. Maloney was her boyfriend at the time of her child’s death.

Their preliminary hearing started Thursday with detailed medical evidence that the prosecution had kept from public view for two years. The experts said it showed that Koltyn suffered bruises, a ruptured liver and bleeding just under the skull.

Still to be revealed are how the injuries were inflicted, and why. That could start to emerge Monday, when a Sonora police sergeant takes the stand before Judge Donald Segerstrom.
Friday’s session featured testimony by Dr. Michael Ferenc, who did the autopsy on Koltyn the day after his death at a Sacramento hospital on Jan. 15, 2019.

Ferenc said Koltyn’s liver was ruptured by some type of “blunt” force, leading to other parts of his body shutting down.

“It would require significant force to tear the liver,” said Ferenc, a forensic pathologist based in Bakersfield. He did not say what kind of object might have caused the injury.

Ferenc also noted bleeding on the outer part of the brain, which he said was “significant” but not large in size.

He said he saw no sign that diseases such as hepatitis or meningitis could have damaged the organs. And he discounted “shaken baby syndrome” because it usually occurs in infants, whose brains are more vulnerable than toddlers’.
 
A judge Friday cleared a Waterford woman of a child abuse charge related to her toddler son’s death in 2019.
Nicole Leanne Sparks, 23, had been accused of negligence for leaving Koltyn Sparks Blackwood with a babysitter who would later be charged with his murder.
The sitter, Joseph Luke Maloney, 26, of Sonora, was ordered to trial Tuesday during the same preliminary hearing in Tuolumne Superior Court. Sparks was Maloney’s girlfriend at the time of her son’s death.
Judge Donald Segerstrom delayed a ruling on Sparks so he could research the prosecution’s argument. Late Friday morning, he said she would not face the charge, which could have brought up to six years in state prison.
Sparks let out a gasp at the defense table, then turned to hug her mother in the first audience row.
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Apr 26, 2023
A Tuolumne County Superior Court judge 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.
 
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