Man pleads guilty to murder of Kentucky mother Savannah Spurlock

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- David Sparks pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of Savannah Spurlock.

The plea deal agrees to a 50-year prison sentence for murder, plus another five for tampering and one year for abuse of a corpse. According to court documents, those charges will run concurrent.

Sparks would be eligible parole after serving 20 years of his recommended 50-year sentence.

Commonwealth's Attorney Andy Sims told WDRB News that the death penalty was not on the table, and couldn't be pursued even in a jury trial. He added that Sparks' defense team may not have agreed to a life sentence deal.

"I needed him to admit to intentionally causing her death, because that's what he did, and that's exactly admitted to doing," Commonwealth's Attorney Andy Sims told WDRB News.

Spurlock, 22, went missing on Jan. 4, 2019, after a night out at The Other Bar in Lexington. She was last seen on surveillance video leaving the bar with three men, including Sparks.

Kentucky State Police said her badly decomposed body was discovered in July 2019 in a shallow grave at the home of Sparks' parents in Garrard County.

Volunteers searched for Spurlock for months before her body was found. The mother of four had given birth to twins a month before she went missing and had two older children.

It's still not clear how Spurlock died.

The prosecutor hopes that the guilty plea is another step toward closure for the Spurlock family.

"We got the killer to admit to what he did," Sims said. "It's no longer a mystery. The world knows who killed Savannah Spurlock. It's David Sparks, and he admitted to it."

Sparks is scheduled to be formally sentenced on Dec. 17.

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