Homeless woman is one of six victims killed in downtown Sacramento mass shooting

One of the victims killed in Sunday’s mass shooting in downtown Sacramento was a homeless woman who had lived along 10th Street off and on for more than a decade.

Melinda Davis, 57, was one of six people killed when shooters opened fire along 10th Street as nearby bars and nightclubs were emptying, said Shawn Peter, a guide with the Downtown Sacramento Partnership who had known Davis for 15 years.

Davis would often sleep in the doorways of businesses along the street, including the London nightclub and Bloem Decor Florist. When it rained, she sought cover in the alcove of restaurants on K Street.

“She’d have a shopping cart and a sleeping bag,” Peter said, “and if she was very lucky, she’d have a tent.”

Peter said downtown officials had helped Davis find housing before the pandemic hit, but that she had returned to 10th Street in recent months.

“Melinda was a very eccentric individual, a very sassy lady,” he said.

A small bouquet of purple roses was placed on the sidewalk in front of London on Monday morning, with a note that read, “Melinda Rest In Peace.”

“This was her spot,” Peter said. “This was her world, 24/7.”

Davis was a kind woman who did not like to be around a lot of other people, said Tangela Hicks, her friend.

“She was a good woman,” Hicks, 52, said. “She was very weak and quiet. She kept to herself. We became good friends.”

Hicks and Davis lived together in an apartment off Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento but were evicted in 2014, she said. After that, they became homeless.

“She was kind and gentle but did not do well in crowds,” said Shannon Dominguez-Stevens, director of Maryhouse, the womens’ day shelter at Loaves and Fishes where Davis had received services.

Even though she was quiet, she had a spunky personality and was always smiling, said Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union.

Sacramento resident Kathy McClain, 62, said she grew up with Davis and had gone to school with her. They had hung out often downtown.

“I don’t want to see her. It’s her. She’s right here,” said McClain, pressing against her breastbone. “I see her every day....I had to go home that night, and I told her to come and go with me. She said, ‘No, I’m good.’

Some, like 40-year-old Branden Canup, exclaimed in surprise, “Oh, wow, so she was one of the six?”

“She would always be around 9th and K or 10th and K in the alcoves around Sharif Jewelers, and I would always say hello, and she would always say hello,” he said.

Davis, like most homeless men and women, was eager to get into housing, said Alan Coulter, a homeless advocate who met her when he worked for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.

“She could be the warmest person at times,” Coulter said. “I remember one of the first times she finally got housed (though not for long), she invited my family and myself over for pasta dinner when she got herself moved in, to feel human/normal,” Coulter said. “Unfortunately that never happened and she was back out on the streets. She had been through a lot of trauma living on the streets so long.”

The news of Davis’ death rocked Sacramento’s homeless community.

“It’s crazy,” said Hicks, who learned of Davis’ death Monday from a reporter. She held a brown Bible close to her chest as she walked through the Loaves and Fishes parking lot. “You’re not safe out here. But we’re not out here by choice.”

The nonprofit set up a grief station where unhoused people could talk to a counselor about the shooting.

“Right off the bat folks wanted to come up to talk,” said Angela Hassell, executive director of Loaves and Fishes. “Even if they didn’t see (the shooting) necessarily, it’s still a big trauma when something like this happens. It rocks the community. Folks that are unhoused are vulnerable out in the streets. When things like that happen, they tend to feel more vulnerable.”

Last year, six homeless people were killed in Sacramento. This one hit especially hard due to its location — in the heart of downtown, where hundreds of unhoused individuals live, said Vince Gallo, program manager at the Genesis mental health program at Loaves and Fishes

“Everyone wants to talk about it,” Gallo said. “It’s not just what happened, it’s where it happened.”

Mayor Darrell Steinberg said Davis’ death creates “another opportunity for reflection and action.”

“The homeless themselves are victimized in more ways than any of us who are concerned or complain about the larger social condition,” Steinberg said. “Here is an innocent person who was unsheltered or homeless who lost her life. If this tragedy compels us to work even harder to get more people indoors, then her memory will be a blessing.”

The five other victims of the shooting rampage were also identified Monday by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office.

The three men killed were Sergio Harris, 38, of North Highlands; DeVazia Turner, 29, of Carmichael; and Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, of Salinas.

The three women killed were Davis; Johntaya Alexander, 21, of Selma in Fresno County; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21, of Elk Grove.

This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 11:30 AM.