Matthew Santoni, The Examiner
2008-05-13 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

A Joppatowne woman is being held without bail on charges of killing her former lover in North East, Cecil County, over the weekend, state police said.

Sandra L. Heim, 46, was arrested Saturday and charged with first- and second-degree murder after she allegedly shot and killed Helen M. Sparks, 47, outside Sparks’ town home in the unit block of Sycamore Drive, said Maryland State Police spokesman Gregory Shipley. She was denied bond after a hearing Monday morning.

Sometime before 1 p.m. Saturday, Heim and Sparks met to talk after ending a romantic relationship in March, Shipley said.

The two got into Heim’s 2005 Honda Accord and started driving away, but Sparks got out of the car and started heading back to her home a short distance away.

“Heim took a weapon out of her trunk, and Sparks began running toward the house,” Shipley said. Shots were fired, and when Sparks reached the door of her house she was struck at least once, he said.

Sparks’ 22-year-old son heard the gunshots and ran to the door to assist his mother, but was too late to keep her from being shot, police said.

When Heim turned to run, Sparks’ son pursued her, disarmed her and kept her subdued with the help of neighbors until police arrived. No one else was injured during the incident.

Heim, a resident of the 800 block of Chatfield Road in Joppatowne, was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and use of a handgun in a violent crime, according to court records.

Sparks was pronounced dead at Union Hospital in Elkton that afternoon.

Police recovered the gun and will conduct ballistics tests to compare it to the shot that killed Sparks, Shipley said.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com