Sacramento gang member convicted of murder and assault in 2019 Del Paso Heights shooting

A Sacramento gang member was convicted of murder and assault Tuesday for a 2019 shooting in Del Paso Heights.

Keondre Pratt was convicted by a jury of the first-degree murder and assault with a semiautomatic gun in the 2019 death of Syncere Dixon, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

The District Attorney’s Office said the jury also found true allegations that Pratt committed the murder by shooting from a vehicle and committed the crimes for “the benefit of a criminal street gang.”

Prosecutors said on Sept. 15, 2019, Pratt noticed a rival gang member driving in his neighborhood. He then ran into the road and fired a semi-automatic firearm 16 times at the rival member’s vehicle.

Six days later, Pratt was driving and saw another vehicle full of rival gang members, prosecutors said. He pursued the vehicle as it sped away from him and pulled up next to it. Pratt then fired 10 times and shot Dixon, who was sitting in the front passenger seat and died at the scene.

On that day, officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation that occurred around 3:30 p.m. in the 900 block of North Avenue near Rio Linda Boulevard. Detectives found Dixon, 19, with multiple gunshot wounds.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by family members, Dixon was visiting friends and family in Sacramento at the time of the shooting.

At Pratt’s sentencing, an allegation that he had a prior 2018 conviction for prohibited person possessing a firearm with gang enhancement will be determined as well, according to the district attorney’s news release.

Pratt faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Court records show his sentencing is set for Aug. 9 in Sacramento County Superior Court.

This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 1:46 PM.