In the early hours of a cold Saturday morning in St. Louis, a fire broke out in a vacant building. When the St. Louis Fire Department arrived at the 5300 block of Queens, near Kingshighway, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on February 1, 2014, they worked to extinguish the flames that had engulfed the structure. Inside, they made a grim discovery.
The body of 19-year-old Aairon Sparkman, a Black male, was found within the burned-out building. He was so severely burned that he was initially unrecognizable. However, a subsequent examination at the morgue revealed a more sinister cause of death. Sparkman had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his head, chest, and leg. The police immediately began investigating his death as a homicide.
Despite the violent nature of his death, details regarding any potential suspects or arrests in the case were not readily available in the immediate aftermath. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the full extent of his injuries and the exact cause of death. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting and the subsequent fire was ongoing.
