NEWS RELEASE
City of Carbondale, Illinois
August 6, 2025
For Immediate Release
CARBONDALE –  On August 5, 2025, at 11:53 p.m., City of Carbondale Police Officers responded to the 500 block of East Birch Street in reference to a report of a stabbing. Officers arrived and found the victim, Gary L. Starks, age 63 of Carbondale, in the roadway with multiple puncture wounds in his chest. Officers observed a subject running from the scene that they later determined to be the suspect. Officers began life-saving measures to Starks while other responding officers apprehended the suspect, identified as Yoshiko L. Bradsfield, age 60 of Carbondale. Starks was transported by ambulance to the Memorial Hospital of Carbondale emergency room for medical treatment, but ultimately succumbed to the injuries. The investigaton revealed that Starks and Bradsfield engaged in a domestic dispute that resulted in a physical altercation. Bradsfield was charged with First Degree Murder and was incarcerated in the Jackson County Jail pending a detention hearing.  Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Carbondale Police Department at the numbers listed below. The investigation remains active and ongoing. 

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the City of Carbondale Police Department at (618) 549-2121. You may also call the Carbondale/SIU Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (618) 549-COPS (2677) or the Murphysboro/Jackson County anonymous tip line at (618) 687-COPS (2677). Anonymous tips may also be made by selecting the “Crime Stoppers” tab on this website’s main page. Please help yourself and your county, its communities, and the university campus by using these numbers if you witness or have any information about a crime. Cash rewards for information that leads to an arrest are also made anonymously. Remember, crime doesn’t pay, but Crime Stoppers does!

The mission of the Carbondale Police Department is to work in partnership with our community to preserve life, protect human rights, protect property and improve quality of life by providing police service to all in a fair, sensitive, and professional manner.