The man accused of shooting Jamaal Stanciel to death in 2008 has been located in an Illinois jail.
Racine County District Attorney Rich Chiapete confirmed that Jonathan Sparks, 25, of Racine, is in custody in an Illinois jail, and online court records indicate Sparks is expected in Racine County Circuit Court Tuesday to be formally charged with one count of first degree reckless homicide for Stanciel’s death.
The charge carries a penalty of up to 60 years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint, officers were called at 10:45 p.m. June 14, 2008 to the 1100 block of 11th Street for a report of shots fired. When police arrived on scene, they found a single victim – Stanciel – shot multiple times. He was transported to the hospital where he later died of his injuries.
Investigators interviewed several witnesses who said they were in the car with Sparks on the night Stanciel was killed, the complaint reads. Each of them told similar versions of the same story: they were driving around in a rented red Pontiac Grand Prix when they found themselves in the 1100 block of 11th Street. Sparks exited the car for a time and when he returned he commented, “I got off,” which the witnesses took to mean he fired a handgun and emptied the magazine.
When one of the witnesses returned home, police say he received phone calls from people saying Stanciel had been shot. Sparks was pulled over by officers on June 15, 2008 while driving the red Pontiac and again on July 14, 2008 and taken into custody for having a .380 handgun and some controlled substances in his possession. The witness told police that was the gun Sparks had the night Stanciel was shot.
Additional witnesses who were attending a house party with Stanciel said at one point police officers told them to move along, and they expected additional officers to pass by and break up the party. A few minutes later there were gunshots and at least one person saw Sparks firing five or six shots from over a nearby fence, the complaint reads.
Investigators say they recovered three .380 shell casings from the scene and the state crime lab matched the casings with the gun they took from Sparks during his arrest in July 2008.
On June 30, 2015, Sparks was located in a Greenville, IL, jail and agreed to speak to officers, the complaint reads. During questioning, he admitted to shooting at a group of people from a rival gang while he was driving around with friends in a rented red Pontiac Grand Prix.
Sparks will make his initial appearance at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in felony court.