Vernon man sentenced to 20 years for 2025 assault against girlfriend

VERNON, Texas (KAUZ) - According to Jon Whitsitt, the 46^th Judicial District District Attorney, a Wilbarger County jury convicted 64-year-old Howard Ray Sparkman of assault family violence by impeding breath or blood and assault family violence with a previous conviction following a two-day trial.

The Wilbarger County Jury took just over an hour and a half to convict Sparkman, who was given a twenty-year sentence for each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.

According to DA Jon Whitsitt, evidence at trial showed that Sparkman’s girlfriend called 911 on December 15, 2025, stating that Sparkman had choked and abused her.

During the course of the investigation, officers learned that Sparkman had assaulted the victim a couple of weeks before at a local library, with two local librarians testifying that they had seen Sparkman grab his girlfriend just below the throat and push her up against the wall and a glass cabinet.