Suspect in shooting that killed his 7-year-old niece and man makes first court appearance
Tyrice Martin appeared alone in a Sacramento courtroom’s holding cell Friday to face formal murder and involuntary manslaughter charges in the Seavey Circle slayings of a Sacramento man and Martin’s niece.
Asked by Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Ken Brody if he was the man accused in the double-homicide, Martin said simply: “Yes. Thank you, sir.”
Martin, 22, will return to Brody’s courtroom Jan. 7. He remains held without bail in Sacramento County Main Jail. Attorneys also requested Martin’s upcoming sentencing on a prior strike offense be delayed until the January court date.
The criminal complaint filed against Martin Friday charges him with murder in the shooting of Clifford Hall, 42, and involuntary manslaughter in the death of his 7-year-old niece, Isabel Agnes Delgadillo Martin. The girl would have turned 8 on Monday.
The involuntary manslaughter charge stems from law enforcement’s belief that Martin accidentally shot the girl as he confronted Hall, then shot Hall to death with a handgun he was prohibited from possessing because he is a convicted felon.
Martin faces a third felony count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and notes that he was previously convicted in Sacramento on March 23 of assault with a deadly weapon and inflicting great bodily injury.
Despite that conviction for using a vehicle as a deadly weapon to assault a man and a conviction for carrying a loaded firearm, Martin was out of custody at the time of the shooting.
He had a pending case charging him with possessing a firearm and ammunition but was released from custody in October with ankle bracelet monitoring after telling a judge his wife was terminally ill.
His release came despite the objections of a Sacramento County deputy district attorney who argued Martin was a danger to the community.
Martin was arrested less than a day after the shooting in the Marina Vista public housing complex when Sacramento Police SWAT officers searched the apartment he was believed to be staying in.
It was roughly 14 hours prior that the shooting occurred near the 2600 block of Fifth Street, near Seavey Circle.
Authorities located both victims after they had suffered gunshot wounds, according to officers. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, while the girl was taken to a hospital where she later died.
City leaders and activists spoke out following the shooting at the Marina Vista housing complex. Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela said the city plans to spend $1.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to address violence, and says she would like the city to invest in Marina Vista.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg issued a social-media statement Thursday morning in support of that idea: “There has never been a more important time for the city to create a new dedicated source of annual funding for youth. 2022 is the year. Let’s make this happen together. Our youth deserve nothing less.”
“As violence in our city continues to rise, the most vulnerable in our communities are the most affected by these terrible crimes,” Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn said in a statement. “I would like to thank the community leaders with Black Child Legacy who were instrumental in assisting officers and family members with a tragic scene.”
The deaths were the city’s 38th and 39th homicides in 2021 and Delgadillo Martin’s slaying was the second juvenile gun death of the year after a 17-year-old was slain in August.
In 2020, the number of homicides was 41, and there were four juvenile deaths, including a 9-year-old girl killed in a Del Paso Heights park.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 2:51 PM.
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