Detectives arrest teen on suspicion of murder in shooting of Sacramento High student
Detectives have arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of murder in the shooting of a Sacramento Charter High School student who was found with a gunshot wound in a crashed vehicle last weekend.
Officer Karl Chan, a Sacramento Police Department spokesman, said the arrested teen was booked on the murder charge in connection with the Oct. 3 shooting of 17-year-old Jaylen Betschart. Because the suspect in custody is a minor, Chan said the department can’t release any further details about him.
“Detectives have been working diligently to solve this homicide and continue to investigate this shooting,” the Police Department announced Thursday night on social media.
Betschart was found with a gunshot wound near Granite Regional Park in Sacramento. About 3:30 p.m., officers responded to a single-vehicle crash in the 8300 block of Jackson Road, near the intersection with Folsom Boulevard, according to the Police Department.
Officers arrived at the scene, just outside the College/Glen neighborhood east of Power Inn Road, and found the driver inside the vehicle, which had crashed into a power pole. The officers determined the boy suffered a gunshot wound and began life-saving efforts, but he was pronounced dead, according to a police news release.
Homicide investigators at that time had not determined a motive for the shooting. Police have not released any further information about the circumstances that led to the shooting.
Betschart was a star athlete, a quarterback and a baseball player with dreams of a professional sports career that would allow him to help support his family, said Domina Stamas, his science and physics teacher at Sac High.
Mimi Hocking, Betschart’s aunt, said her nephew’s death was “horribly tragic” and “senseless,” leaving the family “incredibly destroyed.” She said he was smart, humble and loving kid who was always smiling.
Investigators asked anyone with information about this fatal shooting to call the Police Department at 916-808-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 9:03 PM.
