Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The man who admitted to fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend at McKinley Mall last year will spend the next 20 years to life in prison.
Keith Sparks pleaded guilty to the September 2019 incident, where he followed 38-year-old Mallicia Tipps and her friend into McKinley Mall. Erie County DA John Flynn says Sparks had called Tipps and knew she was heading there. "She got to McKinley Mall, she and her friend were in the parking lot when he appeared out of nowhere. He tried to shoot her in the car and his gun jammed. She and her friend fled into the mall," says Flynn. Sparks ultimately stabbed Tipps inside the Sears store.
Sparks pleaded guilty to second degree murder. Flynn says with a strong case and a confession from Sparks while in Niagara Falls Police custody, he was not offering a deal. "The only time I offer a reduced charge is either I have evidentiary or witness problems. I had neither in this case, so my orders to his attorney were go to trial or plead guilty to the charge," says Flynn.
Flynn says Sparks was wise to plead guilty. "Obviously, he's not putting family through a trial, he's not wasting taxpayer dollars in going through a prolonged trial, and because of that, he threw himself at the mercy of the court, and the judge gave him the benefit and gave him 20 to life as opposed to 25 to life," adds Flynn.
