Homicide detectives arrest second suspect in shooting that killed Sacramento High athlete
Homicide detectives on Thursday arrested a second suspect in the shooting death of a Sacramento Charter High School student who was found with a gunshot wound in a crashed vehicle five months ago.
Curtis Slaton was arrested on suspicion of homicide in the Oct. 3 shooting of 17-year-old Jaylen Betschart, the Sacramento Police Department announced in an update on Twitter.
Slaton was arrested a week after detectives released photos of a suspect vehicle connected to the fatal shooting and asked the public to help identify the person driving what appeared to be a 2012 Dodge Avenger.
“Investigators are grateful for the community’s assistance and do not believe that there are any outstanding suspects at this time,” police officials wrote in the Twitter announcement.
Days after the fatal shooting, detectives arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with Betschart’s death. The Police Department has not released any further details about the teen arrested because he is underage.
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 Betschart suffered a gunshot wound and began life-saving efforts, but he was pronounced dead.
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 was smart, humble and loving kid who was always smiling.
