Two people are behind bars in connection with the 2019 death of a California toddler, who officials initially thought may have passed away from the flu.
The Union Democrat reports that Nicole Sparks, 23, the mother of 2-year-old Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood, turned herself in to Waterford authorities following the Monday arrest of her then-boyfriend, Joseph Maloney, 26.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Kolton passed away on January 15, 2019, after his mother dropped him off with Maloney in Waterford. Sparks left for work, with plans to pick her son up after her shift was over.
Hours later, Sparks received a call that her son was extremely ill. When she arrived to check on him, Koltyn was unresponsive. Sparks took him to the Adventist Health Sonora emergency room.
When doctors realized the seriousness of Koltyn’s condition, he was airlifted and taken to the University of California Davis Children’s Hospital. He died the same day.
Five months later, the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office completed an autopsy report, which confirmed Kolton had blunt force trauma. Doctors also said the boy had internal organ damage and severe brain trauma, according to Tracy Gulcynski, the boy’s paternal grandmother.

“He did have the flu but his death had nothing to do with the flu,” Gulcynski told CrimeOnline.
Ten months later, officials began treating Koltyn’s death as a homicide, according to Sonora Police Chief Turu VanderWiel.

Sparks has been charged with “suspicion of child abuse under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death.” Her bail has been set at $25,000.
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[Feature Photo: Koltyn Sparks-Blackwood/Family Handout]