Local man convicted in Hamilton homicide wanted
Police seeking Kyro Sparks after shot fired during Kitchener dispute
HAMILTON — Family man and steelworker Art Rozendal was beaten to death just over 13 years ago in a bar on Hamilton’s Upper James Street.
Kyro Sparks, one of two men convicted of manslaughter in the homicide, and now a free man, is again wanted by police.
Sparks, 35, was to be released from prison Aug. 30, 2015, after serving his sentence, but a warrant is out for his arrest in his hometown of Kitchener.
Waterloo Regional Police say at 2 a.m. on June 9 on Chandler Drive in Kitchener, “three men and a female arrived in a vehicle and engaged in a verbal dispute with residents in the area. A single shot was fired from a firearm into the air and the suspects fled the scene.”
A man and woman involved in that incident have been arrested, but a warrant remains for Sparks, who faces charges of unauthorized possession of a firearm and careless use of a firearm. Police said he “may be armed and dangerous.”
A news release described him as Black, with a shaved head and thick beard. He is five-foot-11 and 145 pounds with an athletic build.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Waterloo Regional Police at 519-5709777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477.
A Hamilton police spokesperson said they’re aware of the warrant but have “no information to suggest (Sparks) has any ties to Hamilton or has visited the area since his incarceration.”
Sparks was born in Scarborough, lived briefly in Montreal and moved to Kitchener at 16. He had a lengthy criminal record before Rozendal’s death, and what police called a “street gang association.”
Sparks and his co-accused in the Rozendal homicide, Cory McLeod — who has also been released from prison — had been visiting girlfriends in Hamilton on Jan. 14, 2005, when they attacked Rozendal in a back hallway of O’Grady’s.
Forensic evidence showed that Rozendal, 44, a Stelco millwright who lived on the central Mountain, was beaten and his back stomped upon.
The random nature of the attack and Rozendal’s well-known genial nature was such that his death shocked the community: mourners lined up for blocks along Upper Wellington Street in the cold for his funeral visitation.
After Hamilton police arrested Sparks — who fought a police officer and was tasered twice in custody — and tracked-down McLeod, both were charged with second-degree murder.
The pair later agreed to a plea deal with the Crown and were convicted for manslaughter.
The Crown argued for a maximum 15-year sentence; the judge ruled 11 years, less time served. They were eligible for early release in 2012.
A retired Hamilton detective who investigated the homicide said he heard both men’s rehabilitation in prison had gone poorly.
A Parole Board of Canada detention report in 2014 said McLeod was denied early release because he’d attacked fellow inmates, and it added police were “adamantly opposed” to his release.
Rozendal’s spouse, Brenda, said she did not want to comment on the news about Sparks. She was profiled three years ago, on the 10th anniversary of her husband’s death, and said it was difficult to get past bitterness she felt that Sparks and McLeod would be free to start new lives, while her husband lies in Woodland Cemetery.