Connor Whitehead death: Father addresses man who fired fatal shot as he’s jailed for seven years

Joshua Smith cried as he was addressed by Connor's father, James Whitehead. Photo / George Heard.

The father of a teenager shot dead at a party has addressed the man who fired the fatal shot, telling him he feels sorry for him.

“I know you didn’t mean to kill my son.”

Connor Whitehead, 16, was shot dead in the northern Christchurch suburb of Casebrook on November 5, 2021.

In May, Daniel Nelson Sparks and Joshua David Craig Smith, were found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

On Friday the two men were sentenced in the High Court by Justice Melanie Harland. Three others were also sentenced - Kelly Archbold, Nicholas McKay, and another woman who has name interim suppression - after admitting to being accessories after the fact.

Connor Whitehead's father, James Whitehead. Photo / George Heard.

Smith, who fired the fatal shot, was jailed for seven years. Sparks was jailed for six years, three months.

At the beginning of sentencing, the victim impact statements were read.

Whitehead’s father, James Whitehead told the court it’s the future Connor he thinks about so often.

“What kind of man he would’ve been.”

Having to tell his oldest daughter, followed by Connor’s mum and other siblings about his death was “the worst thing I ever had to do in my life”.

Connor Whitehead was an innocent bystander when he was shot dead at a party.

From the time Connor was killed until the time he was buried time was “distorted”.

“Every moment blurred together, one long-painful day,” he said.

“It was a small comfort to us that just before he came home to us, police had apprehended those responsible. Our boy was coming home, those monsters had been caught.”

Since then he had been asking himself what he had done to deserve this.

There were reminders of Connor everywhere and his room remained unchanged.

“Now it’s cold and empty… they’ve taken the warmth out of my life,” he said.

“He was my baby boy.”

Connor’s death had “tainted” every element of his life.

He finished by addressing Sparks and Smith.

Joshua Smith, left, and Daniel Sparks. Photo / George Heard

He told Sparks that as soon as he took the guns to the party he appointed himself, “judge, jury and executioner”.

“You were judge, jury, and an idiot,” James Whitehead said.

“I still fail to understand why anyone would take guns to a party. This is not the Wild West, this is not America.”

He said his apparent lack of remorse spoke volumes and he “should be ashamed of yourself”.

He then addressed Smith.

“You pulled the trigger of the gun… you ended my son’s life.

Connor Whitehead's mother, Cheryl Mirren. Photo / George Heard.

“I should hate you, I don’t. I take pity on you, I feel sorry for you.”

Smith wept in the dock as he was addressed by Whitehead.

He respected his remorse and the genuine emotion he showed including a letter to the family.

“I know you didn’t mean to kill my son… the unavoidable fact is you did, get help, get better friends,” he said.

“Connor forever.”

Connor’s mother, Cheryl Mirren said Connor was “an old soul, a deep-thinker”.

“Connor was cheeky and confident, and what a great moral compass, never afraid to stand up for himself or his friends.

“He was my wee rebel, even though at 6ft3 he wasn’t wee.”

People “gravitated” to Connor, and his “laid-back nature”.

“From the moment we realised Connor was never coming home. The world we knew, the life we knew died, nothing will ever be right again.”

Since Connor’s death, she had stopped working.

“I’ve tried to go back on and off since then but every time I’ve left home I’ve worried about Connor’s brother and sister. I worry that they will be by themselves and I’m still not at the point where I can leave them there for long-extended times on their own.”

She then spoke to Sparks and Smith.

“It’s pretty obvious by your actions that our morals, integrity, and character all need work…I hope it eats away at you every single day forever,” she said.

“We can never escape the consequence of your actions, none of you should either.”

Connor’s older sister, Cordelia Whitehead, who was 17 when he was killed, said the time since had been the “hardest time of my life”.

“Growing up without my little brother and not being able to see him grow and see all the milestones he will hit is something I could never imagine becoming a reality,” she said.

“I wish you were here more than anything.”

She remembers seeing Connor when he came home from the funeral home, his face “pale and lifeless”.

“It broke my heart to see him like that.”

Connor’s aunt, Angela Whitehead, told the court how she helped raise him when he was a baby while he lived with her and her two children.

“Connor was like a baby brother to them, he was like a son to me. I remember vividly when Connor was learning to talk, he would mimic my children, calling me mum…”

She said Connor was “the funniest little guy”.

“I’m so proud to have played a part in his upbringing, he was the kindest, sweetest boy you’d ever meet.”

One of her favourite memories of Connor was the day he became a big brother. She took him to Northlands Mall while they waited for his sister to arrive.

Connor ate some sushi while wearing a Spider-Man hat. She showed a photograph of him eating sushi to the court.

Justice Melanie Harland. Photo / George Heard.

She spent some time with Connor in 2021, and was “so thrilled with the man he was becoming”.

She recalled the moment she was told by Connor’s father he had been shot and killed.

“My world turned black. All I could picture was that beautiful little boy in his Spiderman hat eating sushi.”

Angela Whitehead then addressed the two men as they sat in the dock. She called Sparks a “pathetic little man”.

She told Smith she saw his tears and “apparent remorse”.

“I do believe you feel bad for killing Connor,” she said.

“You asked if he was a good kid, he was the best.”

Smith cried as she finished her statement.

Connor’s youngest sister, Emma, had a recording of her victim impact statement played to the court. She was 11 at the time of his death.

“You should be here annoying me like an older brother does,” she said.

“Connor was my big brother and I loved him so much.”

She and Connor would play video games together, and he would teach her dances he had learned.

“He could always cheer me up when I was sad.”

“Now that I’m older I’ve learned the world isn’t as safe as I thought it was because there are people like you out there.”

She had not heard the full story of what happened to Connor, as her mother told her she was not old enough to hear it. She was not scared to go out alone and was afraid she would be hurt.

“My family will never be the same, all because of you.”

‘Worst consequences imaginable’

Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes said while the jury found Smith did not act with murderous intent, both men were “responsible” for what happened.

Precisely what occurred the night of Connor’s death will never be known, Hawes said.

“What is known is these two men armed themselves with lethal weapons, travelled to the address where the party was held, and both fired shots.”

Their actions led to the “worst consequences imaginable”.

“This offending was not spontaneous or impulsive... a considered decision to take armed weapons to the party,” he said.

Hawes said there were several aggravating factors including Connor’s vulnerability, the recklessness, and the men’s actions after the shooting including fleeing the scene and attempting to dispose of the weapons.

Smith’s lawyer, James Rapley KC, said Connor’s killing was “senseless and should never have happened”.

“No sentence this court could impose will cure the hurt of Connor’s killing.

“There’s no way to restore or heal what has been taken from his family and friends.”

He asked the court to impose a sentence that reflected the jury’s verdict and his culpability.

“Mr Smith did not intend for Connor to die, he did not intend to hurt him. He did not intend to hurt anyone.”

He said Smith offered to plead guilty to manslaughter earlier in February 2022, which was declined. He made another offer in January this year.

Sparks’ lawyer, Donald Matthews, said his client was “genuinely sorry” for what happened. Has thought about what happened every day.

“This weighs on him very heavily.”

He said there should be some “small differentiation” in the starting points between Smith and Sparks given he did not fire the fatal shot.

Justice Harland then began her sentencing remarks by acknowledging Connor’s death and said what happened was “tragic” and “extremely distressing”.

She addressed Smith and said the aggravating features were first and foremost the “extreme violence and serious harm” that occurred as a result of his actions.

“I’m not persuaded your offending was truly spontaneous or impulsive”.

She did not accept he did not know the firearms were loaded.

“At any point during the incident, you could’ve driven off, but you did not do so.”

It was “grossly reckless” to fire a shot the way he did, she said.

She did accept he did not know someone was shot or killed when he fled the scene.

“In my view, your actions once you found out Connor had been killed... are all aggravating factors.”

She said Smith had an “extensive criminal history”, with 136 convictions, the first when he was 17.

Justice Harland believed Smith was “genuine” in his remorse for Connor’s death and jailed him for seven years.

She said Sparks also had an extensive criminal history. She accepted that since he was imprisoned following Connor’s death he had made “considerable steps” to turn his life around.

She said people expressed remorse in different ways, but it did not mean they were not remorseful. She believed he had expressed his remorse and that he wanted to say sorry but he did not think Connor’s family wanted to accept it from him.

“In my view, you are genuinely remorseful for your role in the offending.”

She jailed him for six years, three months.

A second sentencing was then held for Archbold, McKay, and the woman with name suppression.

Archbold was convicted and sentenced to four months’ community detention and nine months’ supervision. McKay was convicted and sentenced six months’ community detention, and the woman with name suppression was convicted and sentenced to community work.

James Whitehead, father of Connor Whitehead, outside court after a jury found two men guilty of manslaughter over his son's death. Photo / George Heard

‘Innocent bystander’

At trial, the Crown alleged both men responded to a call for help from Sparks’ son, as the party got out of control and he was threatened, by arming themselves with loaded firearms – a Stevens shotgun and a Mossberg shotgun – in Smith’s VW Golf.

About 11pm the two men arrived at the party. Sparks’ son pointed out the group of people acting aggressively towards him. Sparks approached them and there was a verbal argument. Gang signs were pulled and there was yelling.

Two shots were eventually fired, one from each of the firearms, one by each of the defendants.

The two shots were about six seconds apart. The Crown said the most likely scenario was that Smith fired the fatal shot that struck Whitehead and that Sparks fired a shot from the Mossberg into the air, likely from the car.

Whitehead was shot in the chest. His injuries were not survivable.

In his closing address at the trial, Smith’s defence counsel James Rapley KC, said the trial had been “difficult and distressing”.

“Connor Whitehead was totally innocent, his killing was shocking, senseless, and should never have happened,” the lawyer said.

Smith accepted it was his fault and that he was responsible for Whitehead’s death, but that it was manslaughter, not murder.

“Mr Smith never intended to kill Connor. Mr Smith never intended to cause Connor harm, and he never thought that Connor or anyone else would be likely to die.”

He argued Smith was trying to scare and intimidate the uninvited partygoers.

He said why two grown men would take guns to a party was “hard to fathom” and was wrong, but just because they took them did not mean they intended to use them.

Smith was “reckless” and “foolish” in shooting the gun hoping the crowd would disperse, he said.

“The fact he caused Connor’s death does not make him guilty of murder,” Rapley said.

“Mr Smith did not intend to shoot Connor, he intended to shoot away from the crowd in the street, he didn’t know when he shot the gun it was likely to cause death.”

Sparks’ defence counsel Donald Matthews said Whitehead’s death was an “absolutely senseless tragedy”.

“When Mr Sparks answered his son’s call, he didn’t think that anyone would die. He didn’t intend for anyone to die, didn’t foresee anyone would die.”

Sparks could not and must not be found guilty of murder as a party, Matthews said.

After two days of deliberation, both men were found guilty of manslaughter.

Sam Sherwood is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers crime. He is a senior journalist who joined the Herald in 2022, and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.