CLEVELAND - members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) located and arrested Bernard Walter Lewis Lonnie Sparks, 33 early Tuesday morning. Sparks has been wanted since January 2022 for aggravated murder, attempted murder, aggravated burglary, and felonious assault.
On January 5, 2022, Sparks broke into the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, Eytae France, 33. He crept into her bedroom, woke her up and proceeded to shoot her friend Zaire Montez Garrett, 25, in the back of the head. The bullet passed through Garrett’s body and lodged in France’s body. Garrett succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, but France survived. Sparks fled the scene and has been on the run since.
After months of work, this morning members of the Cleveland NOVFTF arrested Sparks while he was sleeping inside a vehicle in a parking lot near the 26500 block of Brush Avenue in Euclid.
U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated, “The fear this fugitive brought to the families of these victims is unimaginable, he belongs behind bars. Hopefully, these families have some peace knowing he is not out on the streets any longer.”
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