Teenager’s alleged killer told police his co-accused ‘knows he shot that kid’

The alleged killer of a teenager at a party quickly shifted the focus to his co-accused when he was arrested by police after a four-day manhunt in the wake of the boy’s death, a court heard.

Connor Whitehead, 16, died from about 214 small shotgun pellet wounds to his chest after he was shot at a birthday party on Heaphy Place in Casebrook, Christchurch, on November 5, 2021.

Daniel Nelson Sparks, 44, pointed the finger at his co-accused Joshua David Craig Smith after the innocent teenager was gunned down at Sparks’ daughter’s 15th birthday party.

The pair are on trial at the Christchurch High Court for Whitehead’s murder.

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Sparks was found and arrested by police four days after the shooting, a day after Smith was arrested.

His police interview with Detective Kelvin Holden, whose evidence was read, was played to the jury on Thursday.

“I know I am in trouble,” Sparks told the detective when he was arrested.

Sparks was a Mangu Kaha gang member. He’d been a member for three years and was happy with how things were going and his direction with the “club”, he told Holden en route to the police station.

During the interview, Sparks said he and Smith had been working together on restoring a boat at an old garage on Wilsons Rd.

When they were done they went next door to some abandoned sheds to tidy up, where they found an old single barrel shotgun and ammunition, he said. They took it home to Sparks’ place.

Sometime later, Sparks got a call from his son to say members of the Neighbourhood Crips (NHC) had shown up at his daughter’s 15th birthday party and were assaulting attendees.

Sparks said he and Smith loaded up Smith’s VW Golf car with the old shotgun, and a Mosberg pump-action shotgun he owned.

When they arrived, Sparks got out of the car and ran towards the driveway before being met by kids yelling “Crips, Crips, Crips” at him. He responded with his own gang call, “Mangu Kaha”, he told Holden.

Sparks then heard a gunshot. He turned around, and Smith had the old shotgun and had fired it, he said.

Teenagers began rushing Smith at the car, so Sparks ran back to him, took his Mosberg out of the car and fired it in the air to cause them to scatter, so they could make their escape.

“At this stage I didn’t know anyone had been killed.”

The pair took off and made efforts to cover their tracks over the coming days, including by burying both guns at the Spencer Park forest, Sparks said.

He described the moment Smith read an article on Stuff two days later saying a child had died.

“He was freaking out. I don’t blame him, he knows he shot that kid,” he told the detective.

“He knew it was him that’d done it, he said he fired it in the bushes above their heads, but obviously he didn’t.

“I just f….. lost it. Started crying and didn’t know what to do. It’s too much eh, for them to lose their life, especially a 16-year-old boy, it’s insane.”

When asked why he hadn’t handed himself in to the police knowing he was involved, Sparks claimed he was trying to comprehend what happened, and was figuring out who was going to take him to the station.

“I just wanted to tell the truth … because there’s a child dead. I’ve got kids, this is serious for me.”

He told the detective that Smith wasn’t a part of the Mangu Kaha gang but had recently been given a T-shirt of the club, as he’d been doing some work for them.

Sparks shrugged his shoulders when asked why he and Smith took guns to the party.

“For a warning shot I guess … a big loud bang and then it’s over. I had no intentions of using it ever, I would never use it on anyone, just to make people scatter.”

He said he didn’t take the guns out of the car when he arrived at the party because he could take care of himself, and had no intention of ever using them on anyone. He got a fright when Smith fired his gun.

In a series of intercepted phone calls played earlier in the trial, one of Sparks associates relayed information to him about the police investigation.

They talked of Sparks needing to burn the orange hoodie he was wearing on the night, and that Smith’s VW Golf car had been found by police.

The Crown argues both Smith and Sparks are guilty of murder, in part because they took loaded shotguns to the party and used them, therefore knowing there was a risk of death.

Smith firing the shot that ultimately killed Whitehead is a fact accepted by all parties. He argues he is guilty of manslaughter, not murder. Sparks also denies the charge of murder.

The jury trial before Justice Melanie Harland, set down for three weeks, continues.