SACRAMENTO — A second suspect has been arrested in connection to the deadly melee early Sunday morning in the downtown core of Sacramento that left six people dead and 12 others wounded in one of the deadliest mass shootings in Northern California history.
Smiley Martin, 27, was found at the scene of the shooting, which followed a large fight that had broken out near 10th and K streets, just as bars and clubs were letting out for the night, according to a Sacramento police news release.
Martin was seriously injured by the gunfire and treated at a local hospital. After being identified by authorities as a person of interest, Martin was supervised by an officer while he was being treated and taken into custody Tuesday by detectives. After his treatment is completed, Martin will be booked into Sacramento County Jail on charges of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun, police said.
Martin’s 26-year-old brother, Dandrae, also was arrested Monday, and investigators suspect he was among the gunmen involved for the early-morning shooting, said Sgt. Zach Eaton, a Sacramento police spokesman. However, exact details of his alleged involvement remained unclear Tuesday afternoon, and no homicide-related charges have been filed against him.
A third person was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of illegal possession of a firearm, after police said he was “seen carrying a gun in the immediate aftermath of the shooting,” according to the police department’s press release. However, the department was quick to note that the man is not suspected of anything “directly related to the shootings,” and that the gun they said he was holding was different than the type used in the shooting.
Despite the arrests, more than two days after the deadly shooting, many questions remain unanswered. Authorities have not yet revealed the exact roles they believe anyone played in the shooting, nor have they provided a motive for the massacre. They also haven’t announced any homicide-related charges.
Investigators said they had recovered more than 100 shell casings from the scene of the shooting, where multiple gunmen opened fire around 2 a.m. Sunday as popular downtown bars and nightclubs were closing. More than 170 videos and photos were taken by bystanders and handed over to police. Police have served search warrants at three homes in the Sacramento area and recovered at least one firearm.
Dandrae Martin is being held without bail at the Sacramento County jail, and his next court hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday. He was initially booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon or firearm, as well as being a convicted person carrying a loaded firearm. However, on Tuesday afternoon, jail records showed him only being held on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Dandrae Martin also had an outstanding arrest warrant from Riverside County in connection with a 2014 domestic violence case, for which he was sentenced to three years probation, according to court documents. He was previously convicted of attempting to commit aggravated assault in 2016 in Arizona’s Maricopa County and spent time in an Arizona prison in 2019 and 2020, though details of his stay were unclear Tuesday.
His brother, Smiley Martin, was the subject of a letter sent last year by a Sacramento prosecutor to the Board of Parole Hearings, which argued against his release from prison in a domestic violence case. The letter noted that Smiley Martin had previously been jailed in a 2013 weapons case, and had served time in prison for a 2013 robbery.
A stolen handgun that had been converted into a fully-automatic handgun was found at the scene of Sunday’s shooting, and investigators suspect it belonged to Smiley Martin, said Eaton, the police spokesman. Smiley Martin has not been charged directly in the shooting, and neither Sacramento police — nor the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office — has clarified exactly how he may have been connected to the melee.
Earnest Haley, who lives in an apartment building on 10th St. near where the shooting erupted, said people were “body to body” on the sidewalks near 10th and K streets when shots rang out. As a retired member of the U.S. Air Force, Haley, 56, said he could decipher that at least two different guns were going off.
Although Haley never expected this level of violence to occur in the downtown core of Sacramento — just a couple of blocks from the state Capitol building — he did feel like tensions had been rising recently. Just 24 hours before the shooting, he said he saw a brawl of at least 20 people break out on the same block.
“Two nights in a row, with events like that, it was weird,” he said.
The six individuals killed in the shooting came from various cities around Sacramento with ages spanning nearly four decades.
Slain in the shooting were Sergio Harris, 38, of North Highlands; Johntaya Alexander, 21, of Elk Grove; Melinda Davis, 57; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, of Salinas; Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21 of Selma and De’Vazia Turner, 29, of Carmichael, according to the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office.
A lightly attended vigil to honor the victims of the shooting was held Monday evening by Sacramento elected officials and community organizers.
Laura Orosco, 27, of Lodi, said she felt compelled to attend. Just two days earlier, Orosco and seven of her closest friends met in Sacramento to celebrate her 27th birthday.
After spending the night drinking and dancing, they were waiting outside of Dive Bar for her father, who was coming to pick them up and drive them home, when they heard gunshots.
“We were just in the crowd with everybody else,” Orosco said. “All you heard was gunshots from the left and right and then we just saw bodies hit.”
Orosco hid in a cove with an unhoused man until police arrived at the scene. None of her friends, who had been split up when everyone went running, were injured by the gunfire.
“There was no difference between them and us… They were just a couple of feet away,” she said about some of the victims who died near where she was hiding. “If they were alive, they’d probably show up, so no matter how much trauma we feel, we should show up and show respect.”
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Also in attendance were housing advocates like Monica Madrid, 29 of Elk Grove, who held a candle along with a photo of Davis, an unhoused woman who had slept on the block near where the violence erupted Sunday and was killed.
“If she had a home, she’d still be alive today,” Madrid said about Davis.
A few blocks away, at the site of the shooting, more than two dozen family members and friends of Harris, including his three children, gathered to light candles and say prayers on his behalf.
Harris’ uncle, Cyphreno Robertson Jr., called him an “amazing young man” who was always willing to lend a helping hand by cutting the grass at his parent’s house or washing their cars. Harris, who played football growing up, loved going to the gym to work out.
“He is very truly missed, and if he were here today, he’d be walking around, giving everyone a hug,” Robertson Jr. said. “This hits different when it hits home.”
Earlier in the day, relatives of Turner stopped by the site as well, adding candles and flowers to a vigil set up near the spot where his body was found.
Turner’s mother, Penelope Scott, described the 29-year-old as a loving father and dedicated son who loved to play basketball and detail his cars. Turner leaves behind four children.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, along with other legislative leaders and criminal justice reform advocates, are planning to hold a press conference Wednesday to call on Gov. Gavin Newsom to make $3 billion in investments to expand crime prevention programs and services for victims.
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