Saginaw woman who led anti-violence march faces gun charges

Cole Waterman
Sep 19, 2019


SAGINAW, MI - Months after organizing an anti-violence march in the wake of a several shootings in the city, a Saginaw woman faces gun charges after police allege she threatened an employee at a salon.

Sparkle N. Roby, 34, on Wednesday, Sept. 18, appeared in Saginaw County District Court for arraignment on three counts of felony firearm and single counts of felonious assault, carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, and felon in possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors say Roby on July 22 had an altercation with an employee at Unique Styles Beauty Salon in Saginaw and said she’d come back with a gun. She left the business, then returned with a pistol and waved it around, yelling for the employee, prosecutors allege.

Roby left the salon when she heard police were being called, prosecutors said. No one was injured, but police said several people were in the salon at the time.

Authorities issued a warrant for Roby’s arrest on Monday, Sept. 16. The next day, police arrested her during a traffic stop.

Roby, speaking with MLive on Thursday, said she expects the case against her to be dismissed.

“They’re all false claims,” she said. “I don’t know the person who made the report.”

Earlier this year, Roby organized the Take a Step Walk. The June 1 march was in response to several shootings and two homicides that occurred in Saginaw in a few weeks’ time.

In May, she told how her life has been affected by violence in Saginaw.

In 2005, her best friend Brandy Boose, 20, was killed in a drive-by shooting as she slept in bed with her infant. Two years later, Roby’s 26-year-old sister Tekisha R. Curry — a mother of five children — was fatally shot during a late-night birthday party in 2007.

In 2015, Roby found herself in legal trouble for witness intimidation for twice threatening a female who was a witness against her brother, Brandon Sims, who is serving 26-50 years in prison for the 2014 shooting death of Keyonus Mobley.

“When I was put in that situation, I had never been in that situation, and I learned that I never wanted to be in that situation again,” Roby told MLive in May. “I was able to grow and learn from the experience.”

She ended up pleading no contest to one count of intimidating a witness by committing a crime and/or threatening to kill or injure. As a convicted felon, Roby is prohibited from possessing guns.

In 2018, she regained custody of her sons, who had been removed from her home in 2010. They also became motivation for her.

“I learned to use my time more wisely and started doing more positive things and ever since then things have been going more positively for me,” Roby said.

Roby, who has bonded out of jail, is to appear for a preliminary examination at 2:15 p.m. on Oct. 2.




https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-...ed-anti-violence-march-faces-gun-charges.html