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Teen who stabbed mom gets 25 years in prison

KAYE THORNBRUGH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 3 months AGO
by KAYE THORNBRUGH
Kaye Thornbrugh is a second-generation Kootenai County resident who has been with the Coeur d’Alene Press for six years. She primarily covers Kootenai County’s government, as well as law enforcement, the legal system and North Idaho College. | February 12, 2021 1:00 AM

A Rathdrum teen who reportedly stabbed his mother 13 times will spend up to 25 years in prison.

Kyle M. Sparks, 18, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Judge Scott Wayman sentenced Sparks on Thursday to 25 years in prison, with 10 years fixed and 15 years indeterminate.

The charge stems from Aug. 17, 2020, when police responded to a domestic disturbance call at a Rathdrum residence.

Police reportedly found Sparks’ 14-year-old brother on the front porch, bleeding from a wound in his hand, and found his mother on the floor in the living room.

Sparks was spotted running from the scene, according to court documents. He was reportedly covered in blood and visibly upset when contacted by police.

Sparks allegedly cried out, “I just killed my mom!”

Judge Wayman called the facts of the case “disturbing.”

Sparks reportedly struggled with mental illness from childhood. He experienced abuse from a household member, his attorney said.

Beginning at age 6, his attorney said, he went through a “revolving door” of treatments and hospitalizations, which included two years in foster care.

Sparks’ mother described in court what she experienced last August. She said she and her son argued after she refused to take him to get an ID.

He was unable to cash his first paycheck, his mother said, because he had no form of ID and no means of getting one without a birth certificate.

She said Sparks became enraged. He reportedly grabbed her in a bear hug and stabbed her repeatedly in the back.

“I looked my son in his eyes and said, ‘Kyle, I’m dying,’” she said in court Thursday. “He said, ‘I know. If you let me up, I’ll get you help.’”

Prosecutors said Sparks stabbed his mother 13 times. She reportedly suffered broken ribs, a lacerated liver and a punctured lung.

“My body is scarred for life,” she said. “The worst of all this is my broken heart.”

Sparks reportedly pleaded guilty to aggravated battery as part of a plea agreement.

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Madison Hardy contributed to this report.

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