Man charged with killing 32-year-old Sparta woman

SPARTA, Wis. (WEAU) - A man is charged with killing a 32-year-old woman in Sparta.

32-year-old Shawn Hock of Sparta was charged with 1st-degree intentional homicide, two counts each of aggravated battery and disorderly conduct, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of manufacturing or delivering meth in Monroe County Circuit Court on Friday, with the homicide, aggravated battery and disorderly conduct charges all filed as domestic abuse and all seven charges were filed as repeater, according to online court records.

On May 10, the Sparta Police Department posted on Facebook that they were investigating a death of a woman that was found dead in the city, and that there was no danger to the public. The Police Department later identified the woman as 32-year-old Sara Latimer of Sparta. According to the criminal complaint, a preliminary autopsy report showed that Latimer died of blunt force trauma due to multiple head and facial injuries, which were visible as large bruises and swelling. Latimer also had injuries on her arms and legs that the preliminary autopsy report indicated were consistent with defensive wounds.

In documents filed with the charges in court, investigators said that Hock had a history of violence against Latimer, including domestic abuse convictions for cases that were filed in 2020 and 2021 that Hock was sentenced in April to three years of probation for. Investigators determined Latimer was the victim in those cases, as well as other charges that were dismissed but read in, based on materials on file from those cases. Evidence from the prior cases showed that the injuries Latimer suffered before her death on May 10 are similar to the injuries in the prior cases.

According to court documents, Latimer contacted her mother on May 9, the night before she was found dead by Sparta Police, and sent her pictures of injuries to her face and legs, asking her to pick her up the next day. Investigators said Latimer left the house after sending the messages to go to a laundromat, and video surveillance at the laundromat confirmed that she had gone there from about 1 to 3 a.m. None of the serious injuries that the preliminary autopsy report showed were present on the video, which investigators described as “rather high quality.”

According to the criminal complaint Hock told investigators that he and Latimer had been “bickering” throughout the night after they had taken meth earlier in the day, and he had fallen asleep around 9 or 10 p.m. Hock was woken up at 3 a.m. by an acquaintance saying they had seen Latimer at the laundromat and told Hock that she was talking about leaving him. Hock told investigators he noticed $20 was missing from his wallet and went to pick up Latimer. Hock said he and Latimer came back to their residence and argued about the missing money before going into a bedroom.

Hock said that he did not know how Latimer sustained the injuries, according to the criminal complaint, and denied that he had anything to do with Latimer’s death. Police found Latimer dead on a mattress in a bedroom at the house at 10:17 a.m. on May 10.

On Friday, the Sparta Police Department posted that an arrest had been made and charges had been filed against Hock.

Hock will appear in court on June 13 for his initial appearance. He is being held at the Monroe County Jail.

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