Day three of the K Street shooting murder trial is underway following a day of reluctant witnesses who were called to the stand.Mtula Payton and Dandrae Martin are the surviving defendants accused of the April 3, 2022, shootout, the deadliest in Sacramento’s history. The chaotic confrontation, believed by investigators to have been gang-related, left six dead and 12 injured.During opening statements, the prosecution showed pictures and video from the night of the shooting and called the situation a standoff between rival gangs that led to the deaths of three innocent women.Defense attorneys for Payton and Martin, however, said the shooting was not gang-related and the defendants were spending time with friends until a conversation became hostile. One of the attorneys also blamed Sergio Harris, one of the three gunmen killed, for instigating the shooting.What’s happened Thursday so far: Highlights from Wednesday’s testimonyThree witnesses were on the stand, all three saying in court that they did not want to be there.KCRA 3 is choosing to use only the initials of the witnesses in the trial. TG testified that she was on K Street around 9:30 p.m. that night in 2022. She was inside the nightclub District 30 for about four hours and came out when they closed, which she believed was closer to 2 a.m. She told prosecutors it felt tense and uneasy, but she would not point toward any one person or anything or a group of people. She wanted a hot dog and met a vendor near the corner of 10th and K streets, run by a man and his 10-year-old son. They were packing up quickly and seemed worried; then the shooting began. TG ran toward J Street. She recalled what she says is a fragment of a bullet that struck her in the back, explaining that it is still there. A couple parked on J Street drove her to the hospital that night. Defense attorneys asked if there was anything pointed out to her or if she noticed any men that brought her suspicion. She says no.The second witness, DB, had gone to meet her niece, who was inside District 30. When she arrived, close to 1:30 or 1:45, the bouncer said they were about to close, and everyone would be out soon. Eventually, she and her niece and another pregnant relative made their way to 10th and K and were taking pictures. A person in the crowd told her something that worried her, and she grabbed the other two women, and they hurried to the parking garage. In her words, the elevator was too slow, and as they made their way up the stairs, they prayed to survive as the shooting started. Her niece found her keys, and they jumped in her car. DB lied on top of the pregnant woman to guard her, thinking that any bullets might hit her. DB went back later to get her car and check on her niece’s friend. When she returned to where she’d moved the car, the crime scene had surrounded it now. Police said she could move it if she helped disperse the crowd, but eventually, they determined someone had died at that spot and wouldn’t release the car.The last person, JB, was the most reluctant. After many terse and winding exchanges with prosecutors, he admitted he went to the club around midnight. When he got there, he exchanged words with Joshua Hoye—one of the men killed that night— making him feel uneasy. While prosecutors were trying to get him to talk about gang affiliations, JB said it was all about geography; there were no “camps,” and he disputed issues of plural words and painting the areas as gangs. He says it was enough that he “didn’t like the scene” and left. He didn’t know a shooting had happened until he saw it on the news. While JB says he isn’t a Sacramento person and doesn’t know what happens here, he was living near K Street at the time. His cross-examination will continue Thursday.The six killed 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.The other three people who died were 29-year-old DeVazia Turner, 38-year-old Sergio Harris and 32-year-old Joshua Hoye-Luchessi. Investigators do not consider them victims because of a California law that states people who participate in a shootout that injures or kills others are not 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
Day three of the K Street shooting murder trial is underway following a day of reluctant witnesses who were called to the stand.
Mtula Payton and Dandrae Martin are the surviving defendants accused of the April 3, 2022, shootout, the deadliest in Sacramento’s history. The chaotic confrontation, believed by investigators to have been gang-related, left six dead and 12 injured.
During opening statements, the prosecution showed pictures and video from the night of the shooting and called the situation a standoff between rival gangs that led to the deaths of three innocent women.
Defense attorneys for Payton and Martin, however, said the shooting was not gang-related and the defendants were spending time with friends until a conversation became hostile. One of the attorneys also blamed Sergio Harris, one of the three gunmen killed, for instigating the shooting.
What’s happened Thursday so far:
Highlights from Wednesday’s testimony
Three witnesses were on the stand, all three saying in court that they did not want to be there.
KCRA 3 is choosing to use only the initials of the witnesses in the trial. TG testified that she was on K Street around 9:30 p.m. that night in 2022. She was inside the nightclub District 30 for about four hours and came out when they closed, which she believed was closer to 2 a.m.
She told prosecutors it felt tense and uneasy, but she would not point toward any one person or anything or a group of people. She wanted a hot dog and met a vendor near the corner of 10th and K streets, run by a man and his 10-year-old son.
They were packing up quickly and seemed worried; then the shooting began. TG ran toward J Street. She recalled what she says is a fragment of a bullet that struck her in the back, explaining that it is still there.
A couple parked on J Street drove her to the hospital that night. Defense attorneys asked if there was anything pointed out to her or if she noticed any men that brought her suspicion. She says no.
The second witness, DB, had gone to meet her niece, who was inside District 30. When she arrived, close to 1:30 or 1:45, the bouncer said they were about to close, and everyone would be out soon.
Eventually, she and her niece and another pregnant relative made their way to 10th and K and were taking pictures. A person in the crowd told her something that worried her, and she grabbed the other two women, and they hurried to the parking garage.
In her words, the elevator was too slow, and as they made their way up the stairs, they prayed to survive as the shooting started. Her niece found her keys, and they jumped in her car. DB lied on top of the pregnant woman to guard her, thinking that any bullets might hit her.
DB went back later to get her car and check on her niece’s friend. When she returned to where she’d moved the car, the crime scene had surrounded it now. Police said she could move it if she helped disperse the crowd, but eventually, they determined someone had died at that spot and wouldn’t release the car.
The last person, JB, was the most reluctant. After many terse and winding exchanges with prosecutors, he admitted he went to the club around midnight.
When he got there, he exchanged words with Joshua Hoye—one of the men killed that night— making him feel uneasy. While prosecutors were trying to get him to talk about gang affiliations, JB said it was all about geography; there were no “camps,” and he disputed issues of plural words and painting the areas as gangs.
He says it was enough that he “didn’t like the scene” and left. He didn’t know a shooting had happened until he saw it on the news. While JB says he isn’t a Sacramento person and doesn’t know what happens here, he was living near K Street at the time. His cross-examination will continue Thursday.
The six killed 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.
The other three people who died were 29-year-old DeVazia Turner, 38-year-old Sergio Harris and 32-year-old Joshua Hoye-Luchessi. Investigators do not consider them victims because of a California law that states people who participate in a shootout that injures or kills others are not 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