Heavy security in court at arraignment of suspected shooters of brothers
Two teen brothers are dead. The two men accused of gunning them down Thursday in the parking lot of a Fruitridge Road strip mall faced a judge one after the other Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court amid the brothers’ grieving family and heavy security.
Hieu Hoang, 20, and Richard Jefferson Saterfield, 21, each were arraigned on suspicion of two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of brothers Daniel Robert Murti, 19, and Sergio Murti, 15, in the 5200 block of Fruitridge Road. The two return May 30 to Sacramento Superior Court for further proceedings in the killings.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Richard Sueyoshi read the charges as Saterfield, then Hoang, listened from their courtroom cell, flanked by deputies. Prosecutors allege the two opened fire on the brothers with .40-caliber handguns, adding special circumstances of multiple killings to their criminal complaint.
Dozens of the brothers’ family members sat among the alleged gunmen’s family under the watchful eyes of deputies and a squad of sheriff’s sergeants.
After the brief hearing, the families streamed out of Sueyoshi’s courtroom – the families of Saterfield and Hoang to speak with court-appointed attorney Russell Miller; the victims’ family off to their cars and to speak with county prosecutors. None spoke with reporters.
Shots rang out at noon Thursday as the brothers walked along Fruitridge Road just blocks from their Nina Way home, authorities said, before two people in a light-colored SUV drove away from the scene.
Hoang was arrested first. Sacramento County Sheriff’s detectives picked him up the following day. Saterfield surrendered to authorities on Saturday. Both remain in custody at Sacramento County Main Jail.
Darrell Smith: 916-321-1040, @dvaughnsmith
This story was originally published May 16, 2017 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Heavy security in court at arraignment of suspected shooters of brothers."