The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
US police hold second suspect over shooting
Asecond suspect has been arrested after a mass shooting in Sacramento that killed six people and wounded 12 in California’s capital, and police say he is the first suspect’s brother.
Smiley Martin, 27, was arrested while being treated in hospital with serious injuries from the gunfire. When he is fit for jail, he will be charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun, a police statement said.
More than 100 shots were fired on Sunday in central Sacramento, causing hundreds of people to flee for safety.
On Monday police arrested Dandrae Martin, 26, as a “related suspect” on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and being a convict carrying a loaded gun.
Detectives and Swat team members found one handgun during searches of three homes in the area.
Police said Smiley Martin was found at the scene and was taken to hospital.
“Smiley Martin was quickly identified as a person of interest and has remained under the supervision of an officer at the hospital while his treatment continues,” said the police statement.
“Based on information developed during this investigation, Smiley Martin was taken into custody by Sacramento Police Department detectives on April 5 2022.”
The arrests came as the three women and three men killed were identified.
The shooting was at about 2am on Sunday as bars were closing.
The dead included a father of four, a young woman who wanted to be a social worker and a man described as the life of the party.
The Sacramento County coroner identified the women killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21, Melinda Davis, 57, and Yamile MartinezAndrade, 21. The three men were Sergio Harris, 38, Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, and De’vazia Turner, 29.
Mr Turner, who had three daughters and a son, was a “protector” who worked as the night manager at an inventory company, his mother Penelope Scott told the Associated Press.
He rarely went out, and she had no reason to believe he would be in harm’s way when he left her house after visiting on Saturday.
“My son was walking down the street and somebody started shooting, and he got shot. Why is that to happen?” she said. “I feel like I’ve got a hole in my heart.”
Police are investigating whether the shooting was connected to a street fight that broke out just before gunfire erupted. Several people could be seen in videos clashing on a street lined with an upscale hotel, nightclubs and bars when gunfire sent them scattering.
Detectives are also trying to determine if a stolen handgun found at the scene was linked to the shooting, Police Chief Kathy Lester said.
District attorney Anne Marie Schubert said Dandrae Martin was not arrested on suspicion of homicide, but suggested investigators were making progress. “The investigation is highly complex involving many witnesses, videos of numerous types and significant physical evidence,” she said.
Dandrae Martin was freed from an Arizona prison in 2020 after serving just over 18 months for violating probation in separate cases involving a felony conviction for aggravated assault in 2016 and a conviction on a marijuana charge in 2018.
Court records show he admitted punching, kicking and choking a woman in a hotel room when she refused to work for him as a prostitute.
Of the 12 wounded, at least four suffered critical injuries, Sacramento Fire Department said. At least seven of the victims had been released from hospital by Monday.