Aarion Termalewil Sparkman was 19 years old when he was killed in St. Louis on Saturday, February 1, 2014. The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in St. Louis through 2017, lists his case as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
Beyond his name, his age and the date of his death, almost nothing about Aarion Termalewil Sparkman has been made public.
No news story about the killing, obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. He surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say how he was killed, whether he was attacked indoors or on the street, whether he knew the attacker, what time of day it happened, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. It does not say whether anyone else was hurt or whether investigators ever identified a suspect or a motive.
His age stands out. At 19, Aarion Sparkman was a teenager, likely only a year or so out of high school. A young man that age would have had parents, siblings, classmates and friends who noticed right away when something was wrong, and who may still be waiting, more than a decade later, for someone to be held responsible.
His name is also unusual. The first name Aarion and the middle name Termalewil are rare, which means anyone who knew him would recognize the name at once. It also means the lack of any public record about him is striking: there is no news story, social media memorial or obituary that could be tied to him in the material found for this account.
The location recorded in the database places his death in north St. Louis, several miles north of downtown, in a part of the city of older brick homes, small businesses and vacant lots. People who lived or worked there in early February 2014, in the middle of a cold winter, may remember the police activity that followed his death.
St. Louis, a city of roughly 300,000 people, has for years had one of the highest homicide rates of any large American city. Police recorded about 120 homicides in 2013, 159 in 2014, 188 in both 2015 and 2016, and 205 in 2017, the most in roughly two decades. In many of those years, detectives solved fewer than half of the city's killings. Cases with few public details, like his, often faded from view quickly.
St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers keeps a public list of open homicides and accepts tips without asking for a caller's name, and a tip that leads to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Aarion Termalewil Sparkman could be found in news archives or public records. More than 12 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who went to school with Aarion Sparkman, saw him that first weekend of February 2014, or heard talk afterward of what happened may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Division at 314-444-5371, or leave an anonymous tip with CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (866-371-8477).
