Stolen property belonging to slain Sacramento musician DJ Gio recovered in El Dorado County

Police have recovered some — but not all — of the equipment and valuables that were stolen from a storage unit belonging to the mother of the beloved Sacramento musician Giovanni Isidro Razo Pizano, who is better known as DJ Gio.

When Anita Razo stumbled upon her burglarized storage unit on Jan. 3, she was devastated to discover someone had stolen items that belonged to her late son. Pizano was shot to death in April in an incident that police described as “centered on a robbery.”

Over the weekend she received a call from the Sacramento Police Department, who told her that they were able to recover some of DJ Gio’s belongings with the help of El Dorado County sheriff’s detectives.

A Facebook post from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s page confirmed that El Dorado County detectives were investigating a burglary that happened in El Dorado Hills and found stolen property that included DJ equipment and designer clothing.

Razo drove from her North Natomas residence to Placerville to meet with police officers and retrieve the possessions that belonged to her son.

“After coordinating with the Sacramento Police Department, El Dorado County Detectives were able to make contact with Giovanni’s mother and return the stolen property. We would like to thank the Sacramento Police Department for their assistance, and we are happy to see these items rightfully returned,” wrote the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Facebook post.

The items taken from her storage unit at SmartStop Self Storage in Sacramento reportedly had a value of up to $250,000, including DJ equipment that Razo planned to use for her nonprofit, DJ Gio Nonprofit Organization.

Razo told The Sacramento Bee that while some of the items have been returned, not all of her son’s valuables have been recovered.

She said about 10 pairs of shoes, a TV, and his old turntables were reclaimed.

“It wasn’t even half of what was taken. We don’t have any of the other pairs of shoes, we didn’t get the new turntables, we didn’t get the old music mixer, all of his clothes, or the real expensive luggage. There’s still a lot,” said Razo.

For example, Razo said that there are clothing items DJ Gio can be seen wearing in pictures on his Instagram page that have not been located.

Razo said officers gave her all of the items they were able to retrieve.

“I think I’m sounding ungrateful and I’m not. I’m just really glad that we were able to get what we got. I just wish we would have gotten the other important things, as well,” said Razo.

The Sacramento Police Department is “actively investigating” the burglary. No arrests have been made at this time.

This story was originally published January 9, 2023 at 3:58 PM.