Did Grace Anne Sparks Kill Herself? Hayden Berkebile Arrested Over Homicide
Sarah Richards
Published Feb 19, 2026
Grace Anne Sparks was a teenage girl who killed herself voluntarily. But, the twist here is she was motivated by someone to take her life.
Her mother has spoken out about her daughter, the traumatic trial, and why she’s now fighting for change and created a lesson for those dealing with depression.
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Grace Anne Sparks Murder Or Suicide -Did She Kill Herself Or Got Killed?
Grace Anne Sparks’s death incident was initially ruled as suicide. In fact, she was the victim of the Coerced Suicide Trial which happened three years ago.
A veterinarian aspirant was found motionless in 2019 by her parents. She had a bullet wound in her head and a revolver on her bed.
We came to learn that Grace was going through anxiety and depression and was on medication. She was even going through health therapy.
According to Tribute Archive, she was born on March 22, 2000, and passed away on the 29th of September, 2019. The Cookeville-based girl committed suicide after she was encouraged by someone to do it. This case had created a dilemma after the concerned authorities found it difficult to categorize the case as murder or suicide. But, from what we know, it is a mixture of both of them.
Is Hayden Berkebile Arrested Over Homicide Trial?
Hayden Berkebile is arrested in a homicide trial and is behind bars. He is found guilty of encouraging a Knoxville teenager to gun herself down and that’s for his viewing pleasure.
He was an Indiana man, over 10 years older than naive Grace, and managed to easily manipulate the teenager, who was willing to do anything as he said.
With this, it marks the first time that the Tennesse jury has arrested someone for someone else’s suicide. He was charged with a count of criminally negligent homicide in May 2022.
As per the reports, Hayden indulged and groomed Grace Anne for years and when she was in her most vulnerable state of mind, he preyed on her. Thus, he eventually ended the teenager’s life by motivating her to shoot herself with a gun.
Reportedly, Hayden and Grace were really close as they had been talking to each other online since she was 13. With this long period of six-year, the emotional attachment will surely build up as they had been talking for years and were closely familiar.
When Grace asked Hayden Berkebile to use her, he reportedly told her to kill herself for his satisfaction. Thus, for this move, he was convicted guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the 2019 death of Grace Anne Sparks at last.
Grace Anne Sparks Age And Wiki Bio
Grace Anne Sparks was aged 19 years old at the time of her death. She became a victim of depression at a young age and that also played a part in her suicide-murder case.
Talking about her family, Sparks’ parents especially her mom Candis Sparks are somewhat happy with the final verdict. Though they could not bring back their daughter, they are finally glad about how the things turned out to the suicide motivator. And. ultimately, the justice has been served.
Grace Anne Sparks is described as a girl with an attractive personality and good behavior in the web portals. Though she was dealing with anxiety and other problems within, she always showed a cheerful side outside to her family and peers.