(KTXL) — Monday marks exactly one year since an early-morning shooting left 6 people dead and 12 others injured in downtown Sacramento on April 3, 2022.
The shooting occurred around 2 a.m. in the area of 10th and K streets, an area known for its nightlife.
Three men and three women were killed, and Sacramento Police said they believe at least five shooters were involved in an exchange of gunfire.
Original Article: Mass shooting: 6 dead, 12 injured in Sacramento
“This tragedy downtown is a very public example of what families in many of our neighborhoods know too well,” Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said several days after the shooting. “The suffering inflicted by gang violence does not limit itself to gang members. It spills over to claim and shatter innocent lives and harm our entire community.”
On Sunday, the night before the anniversary, a small memorial to the victims began to take shape near the scene of the shooting.
The father of Johntaya Alexander, one of the victims in the shooting, said he planned to stay for hours into the night at the site where his daughter lost her life.
According to court documents, the shooting was the result of a gang dispute involving three of the men that died: Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, Devazia Turner, 29, and Sergio Harris, 38.
In addition to Alexander, who was 21, two other women who died in the crossfire were identified Melinda Davis, 57, and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21.
“We want everybody to know she was happy and we still want justice for her,” said a member of Martinez-Andrade’s family.
Three suspects were arrested in the days and weeks after in connection to the shooting, brothers Smiley and Dandrae Martin, and Mtula Payton.
What charges are the suspects facing?
Smiley and Dandrae Martin were arrested within days after the shooting and Payton was later named a suspect, prompting a police search. After a two-month search, Payton was arrested in Las Vegas in May.
All three suspects have made court appearances and are expected to be back in court on June 2, according to jail records from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Then-Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced in May that Dandrae and Smiley Martin and Payton were each being charged with three counts of murder for the deaths of Alexander, Davis and Martinez-Andrade.
Schubert said Alexander, Davis and Martinez-Andrae were considered innocent bystanders in a shooting that was allegedly between two rival gangs.
Other charges announced for the three suspects were enhancements related to the use of a weapon that causes a death. Additional charges were also filed against Payton related to Economic Development fraud of $45,000 between July 2020, while he was in prison, and August 2020.
No murder charges were filed in connection to the deaths of the other three people who died: Turner, Harris and Hoye-Lucchesi.
