WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A Delaware man who lured his ex-girlfriend to a wooded area and beat her to death with a baseball bat was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder and other crimes.
A jury deliberated for less than three hours before finding Noah Sharp, 21, guilty of murder, conspiracy and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.
Sharp faces a mandatory life sentence. Prosecutors are also recommending a life sentence for Sharp’s accomplice, Annika Stalczynski, who pleaded guilty to murder and conspiracy in the killing of 17-year-old Madison Sparrow.
Under state law, Stalczynski would be eligible for modification of a life sentence after 30 years because she was a juvenile at the time of the murder.
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Sparrow, a junior at Newark Charter School, was reported missing on Oct. 2, 2020 after she didn’t return home from a trip with Stalczynski to get ice cream.
Authorities identified Sharp as a suspect and determined that he and Stalczynski conspired to lure Sparrow into a wooded area behind an elementary school and kill her.
Sharp was arrested a week after Sparrow’s disappearance and led investigators to her body, which was buried in a shallow grave.
