Man ordered to stand trial on fatal hit-and-run

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff man was ordered to stand trial Monday for his alleged role in connection with a December hit-and-run accident that killed a Poplar Bluff teenager.

Accompanied by his lawyer, Steve Lynxwiler of the public defender’s office, Randel Craig Sparks was supposed to appear before Associate Circuit Judge Thomas Swindle for a preliminary hearing on the Class D felonies of leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with physical evidence.

Instead, Sparks, 42, waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

The judge ordered Sparks to appear at 9 a.m. April 19 before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett for arraignment on the charges.

Sparks is charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed Heavenly Grace Hafford dead.

The 13-year-old died of blunt-force trauma. She was struck by two vehicles at 7:15 p.m. Dec. 9 as she crossed Kanell Boulevard near the Maud Street intersection.

The junior-high student was walking home with a friend. She had been to Mansion Mall to buy shoes for an upcoming school choir recital.

The first vehicle allegedly struck the teen was a rusty, light-blue Volkswagen Beetle. That vehicle was found shortly after the crash, and its driver, Sparks, was arrested.

“I was able to determine through my investigation that (Hafford’s) death resulted from the impact with Sparks’ vehicle,” Butler County Coroner Jim Akers said.

Authorities say a second vehicle a short distance behind Sparks’ vehicle also ran over Hafford and fled the scene. That vehicle was believed to be a late model Ford F-150 pickup, described as a 4x4 crew cab, with four doors, a short bed and bright white headlights.

Officers impounded the suspected truck Dec. 15 after finding it on a business parking lot in Poplar Bluff.

The truck’s owner, Ben Ressel, a prominent local businessman, was arrested three days later on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident. No charges have been filed against Ressel.

A probable-cause statement filed by Poplar Bluff police officer Joey Woodruff in Sparks’ case states officers found an outside mirror and a piece of chrome trim on the road at the crash scene.

As troopers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol worked the crash, police officers began searching for the suspect vehicles.

Woodruff said he began checking with businesses in the area in an attempt to obtain video of the vehicles.

As Woodruff was doing that, he overheard another officer report one of the vehicles possibly was near Gamblin Lumber Co. on Peach Street.

When Woodruff arrived there, he said, he was directed to storage units on the north side of Peach Street by a resident who had seen the vehicle and called police.

Woodruff said he later learned the man knew Sparks owned a “vehicle matching the description, and that Sparks lives at the storage units on

Peach Street.”

Woodruff said he found the vehicle that matched the description and upon getting out of his patrol car, Sparks stood up.

“I noted that the Beetle had damage to the driver-side front and was missing the driver-side mirror and turn signal, which was consistent with the items found at the crash scene,” Woodruff said.

Tools were found on the ground near the car, he said.

“I also noticed the front bumper had been removed and was on the ground in front of the vehicle,” Woodruff said. “The odor of a strong chemical could be smelled around the vehicle, and the damaged area appeared that it had been cleaned using the chemical.”

Sparks was arrested, and a search warrant later was executed to obtain a blood sample from him.