Long-Distance Telephone Bill Clears Boy in Death of Mother

A telephone bill has vindicated a physically handicapped teen-ager jailed more than a month on charges he beat his mother to death.

Charges were dismissed against Patrick Sparks, 17, when the bill found by his brother, Brad, 30, indicated their mother was still alive when the youth left home on the morning of the slaying, police said.

Telephone records show that Beatrice Sparks, 54, phoned two out-of-state relatives shortly after 7 a.m. Oct. 2, about a half-hour after Patrick boarded a school bus.

Patrick, an 11th-grader who suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, was released from Juvenile Hall last week, a few days after the discovery of the records.

“What we now believe is that Patrick Sparks is not responsible,” Alex Michaelis, Department of Public Safety commander, said Wednesday. “Our investigation is branching out in other areas.”

The youth was “emotionally drained” although “he’s doing better now that he’s out,” the elder Sparks said of Patrick, who sat in silence at his brother’s apartment during an interview.

Patrick was arrested by police shortly after he reported finding his mother’s bloodied body in her bedroom. Witnesses said he rode the bus and did not miss any classes that day.

The teen-ager lived alone with his mother. Four older brothers and sisters lived elsewhere. The father has been in a nursing home since a stroke earlier this year.