Closing arguments are set to continue Wednesday in the trial to determine the guilt in Sacramento’s deadliest shooting.Six people died, and 12 more were injured after gunfire broke out along downtown’s K Street corridor on April 3, 2022. Defendants Mtula Payton and Dandrae Martin face murder and weapons charges in connection.What’s been a debate for more than two months after testimony began in this trial is what prompted the shooting. Was it premeditated gang violence? Or was it an unprompted confrontation while friends were spending a weekend night out?Prosecutors have been making the case for the former. Throughout the trial, they’ve noted that some witnesses have reluctantly testified or only spoken under the condition of immunity. Law enforcement officials who were assigned to investigate also discussed their perspective on interviewing people and gathering evidence, including the social media activity of those tied to the shooting.K Street trial updates todayFind live updates below as they occurUpdates from June 16 and afterwardAs the defendants testified in their own trial, prosecutors have called out inconsistencies in their previous statements. They also called out both Payton and Martin in having the option to leave before hostilities increased downtown but not doing so because of the implications it would have on their respect in gang culture.Payton faced scrutiny for growing up a Garden Blocc Crip but later joining a group that included subsets where Bloods are represented. As a “Cut Crip” and not a traditional one, prosecutors argued this put Payton in opposition with other Garden Blocc members.Among the Garden Blocc members identified in the shooting was Smiley Martin, a person Payton testified under oath was a close friend of his since he was 11 but later drifted apart from. He was also arrested along with his brother, Dandrae, and Payton, but Smiley died while in custody in 2024.Watch the first part of closing arguments from prosecutors belowDandrae claimed he has never once represented a gang, but prosecutors noted that Dandrae’s social media activity has several Crip references and that he was also visible in a social media video, alongside Smiley and slain gunman Joshua Hoye-Luchessi, which was filmed along Traction Avenue, an area “owned” by a gang that rivals Garden Blocc.Prosecutors are expected to continue making the arguments to jurors that the tragedy along K Street could have been avoided had gang motivation not been a factor. Once they finish, the defense is expected to make their final push, stating that the shooting was unprovoked and in self-defense.The defense has also tried to argue that Sergio Harris—he also died in the gunbattle—instigated the confrontation. Updates from May 12 to June 15Updates from the beginning of the trialThe victims in the K Street shootingThe three victims are 21-year-old Johntaya “JoJo” Alexander, 57-year-old Melinda Davis, and 21-year-old Yamile Martinez-Andrade.Sergio Harris, DeVazia Turner and Joshua Hoye-Luchessi also died in the shooting, but California law does not consider people who participated in gunbattles that result in death or injury to be victims.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
Closing arguments are set to continue Wednesday in the trial to determine the guilt in Sacramento’s deadliest shooting.
Six people died, and 12 more were injured after gunfire broke out along downtown’s K Street corridor on April 3, 2022. Defendants Mtula Payton and Dandrae Martin face murder and weapons charges in connection.
What’s been a debate for more than two months after testimony began in this trial is what prompted the shooting. Was it premeditated gang violence? Or was it an unprompted confrontation while friends were spending a weekend night out?
Prosecutors have been making the case for the former. Throughout the trial, they’ve noted that some witnesses have reluctantly testified or only spoken under the condition of immunity. Law enforcement officials who were assigned to investigate also discussed their perspective on interviewing people and gathering evidence, including the social media activity of those tied to the shooting.
K Street trial updates today
Find live updates below as they occur
Updates from June 16 and afterward
As the defendants testified in their own trial, prosecutors have called out inconsistencies in their previous statements. They also called out both Payton and Martin in having the option to leave before hostilities increased downtown but not doing so because of the implications it would have on their respect in gang culture.
Payton faced scrutiny for growing up a Garden Blocc Crip but later joining a group that included subsets where Bloods are represented. As a “Cut Crip” and not a traditional one, prosecutors argued this put Payton in opposition with other Garden Blocc members.
Among the Garden Blocc members identified in the shooting was Smiley Martin, a person Payton testified under oath was a close friend of his since he was 11 but later drifted apart from. He was also arrested along with his brother, Dandrae, and Payton, but Smiley died while in custody in 2024.
Watch the first part of closing arguments from prosecutors below
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Dandrae claimed he has never once represented a gang, but prosecutors noted that Dandrae’s social media activity has several Crip references and that he was also visible in a social media video, alongside Smiley and slain gunman Joshua Hoye-Luchessi, which was filmed along Traction Avenue, an area “owned” by a gang that rivals Garden Blocc.
Prosecutors are expected to continue making the arguments to jurors that the tragedy along K Street could have been avoided had gang motivation not been a factor. Once they finish, the defense is expected to make their final push, stating that the shooting was unprovoked and in self-defense.
The defense has also tried to argue that Sergio Harris—he also died in the gunbattle—instigated the confrontation.
Updates from May 12 to June 15
Updates from the beginning of the trial
The victims in the K Street shooting
The three victims are 21-year-old Johntaya “JoJo” Alexander, 57-year-old Melinda Davis, and 21-year-old Yamile Martinez-Andrade.
Sergio Harris, DeVazia Turner and Joshua Hoye-Luchessi also died in the shooting, but California law does not consider people who participated in gunbattles that result in death or injury to be victims.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel