By admin 
Days after Sacramento Superior Court jurors deadlocked on murder charges against Dandrae Martin and Mtula Payton in the capital city’s deadliest mass shooting, questions remain about how the case against the sole surviving suspects will proceed.
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Here’s what we know so far.
Sacramento County prosecutors last week dismissed first-degree murder charges against Martin and Payton, leaving the jury to decide whether the defendants were guilty of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or acted in self-defense.
The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict and on Tuesday told Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman it was hopelessly deadlocked.
Families of the women killed in the April 2022 barrage of gunfire on downtown Sacramento’s K Street demanded justice from a system they said failed them when jurors failed to reach verdicts on the charges stemming from their slayings. Johntaya Alexander, 21; Yamile Martinez, 21; and Melinda Davis, 57, died within seconds after the shooting started, caught in a barrage of bullets at 10th and K streets.
Prosecutors argued the three women were killed in the crossfire of rival gangs’ gun battle in the middle of the bustling intersection as nightclubs closed early on April 3. Defense attorneys argued that an armed Payton and Martin fired their weapons in self-defense after the spontaneous shooting erupted in the area. Investigators did not link Payton’s shots, which he fired while fleeing north on 10th Street, to the women’s deaths.
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Three of the dead — Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchessi, 32; and Davazia Turner, 29 — were alleged by prosecutors to have been involved in the shootout.
Jurors convicted the pair of being felons in possession of a firearm and found true allegations of prior felony convictions.
The case is scheduled to return to Sacramento Superior Court in October. The families will learn whether prosecutors will offer plea agreements to Martin and Payton or proceed to a second trial on the homicide charges.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office has offered little hint since Tuesday’s mistrial beyond its brief statement following the deadlock: “We will make a decision in the near future as to our next steps, which will include a decision to retry the case.”
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