During the trial, the jury heard from nearly 30 witnesses, the majority of whom were called by prosecutors.
Through their testimony, the witnesses laid out the plot to kill Sparrow, which Sharp and Stalczynski began planning via text message, FaceTime and in person at least 10 days before the murder.
The jury viewed the text exchanges between Sharp and Stalczynski that discussed what weapons the teens would use and how they’d dispose of Sparrow’s body. Ultimately, the two decided they would kill Sparrow at Maclary Elementary School near Newark and dispose of her body about 15 minutes south, near a warehouse.
At several points during the trial, Sharp’s defense team attempted to argue that someone else could have had control of Sharp’s devices and that it wasn’t him texting Stalczynski. Given their verdict, it appears the jury rejected this argument.
In court proceedings, the jury watched hours worth of video of Sharp’s interviews with police at Delaware State Police Troop 2 in Glasgow. Over the course of several days, they heard how Sharp’s ever-changing stories ultimately crumbled, culminating in a confession.
They also saw, through police video, how Sharp led detectives to where he and Stalczynski buried Sparrow in a two- or three-foot grave – a decision the teens made after unsuccessfully drowning Sparrow’s body in the Christina River under Interstate 95 several dozen yards away.
And the jury listened as several detectives testified that they found a bare footprint in the mud next to the river – where paving blocks from Stalczynski’s home and Sparrow’s burned clothing were found – of which they created a cast.
A Delaware State Police fingerprint analyst then testified that from the cast, she was able to obtain enough detail of the print of the big toe to compare it to an inking of Sharp’s big toe. The two matched, she said.
