Connor Whitehead was shot dead at a teenage party in Christchurch in November 2021. Photo / Supplied.
Connor Whitehead was shot dead at a teenage party in Christchurch in November 2021. Photo / Supplied.
A trio charged with helping an alleged gunmen avoid police after a teenager was shot dead outside a birthday party have today pleaded guilty.
Connor Whitehead, 16, died from gunshot wounds after attending a 15th birthday party and fireworks in the northern Christchurch suburb of Casebrook on November 5, 2021.
Two men were later charged with murder and are due to face trial, starting May 8.
Daniel Nelson Sparks, a 44-year-old solo father, and Joshua David Craig Smith, 33, a concrete worker from Burnside, have both pleaded not guilty.
Today, at the High Court in Christchurch, three people admitted being accessories after the fact and helping the accused avoid arrest.
Members of Whitehead’s family, wearing tribute T-shirts, were in court today to witness proceedings.
Kelly Archbold, 44, Nicholas Mckay, a 47-year-old forklift operator from Spencerville, and another woman who has interim name suppression, entered guilty pleas this morning.
Connor Whitehead, 16, was shot dead outside a birthday party in Christchurch last year. Photo / George Heard
Justice Cameron Mander called for pre-sentence reports for all three and requested the preparation of victim impact statements ahead of sentencing on May 1.
A summary of facts provided to the Herald says Whitehead was invited to a friend’s birthday party in Heaphy Place on November 5, 2021.
A large number of young people both invited, and later, uninvited, showed up.
Over the course of the evening, however, tension arose and fights broke out, the summary says.
The party spilled into the street and it was later in the night that Whitehead was shot dead.
He had not been involved in any altercations and did not know any of the men who allegedly showed up.
After the fatal shooting, a “significant police investigation commenced” and officers started intercepting phone calls.
“The defendants were aware that a fatal shooting had occurred but nevertheless continued to offer comfort and assistance to [the accused],” the summary says.
Archbold, the Crown says, was in “consistent contact” with one of the suspects.
Immediately after the shooting, she drove to pick him up, the summary alleges.
“Through the intercepted calls, she provided comfort to [the accused] and was also advising him of information as it became available to her,” it states.
Archbold also admits organising a “safety package” for him including clothes, food, water, money, and medication.
McKay admits providing a “safe haven” in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, while the woman with name suppression also picked up one of the accused, the Crown says.
Whitehead’s death devastated his family who said at an earlier press conference that they were “shocked and heartbroken”.
“He was at a party with his friends. He should have been safe and he should be home with us,” father James Whitehead said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Nicola Reeves, who led Operation Stack, the massive police inquiry into the case, said the teen’s death had devastating effects.
“Connor had his whole life ahead of him and this incident has robbed that from him and his family,” she said.
