Sacramento just had its deadliest year since 2006. What’s fueling the violence?
When stray gunfire struck Isabel Agnes Delgadillo Martin last month, the 7-year-old girl became one of 57 homicide victims in Sacramento in 2021, an ominous toll for a city where homicides are on the rise.
Throughout Sacramento County, however, the number of homicides dropped to 109 last year from 122 in 2020, according to the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office. Some law enforcement agencies in the county, including the Sheriff’s Office, saw a decline in homicides last year. The rest saw slight increases but remained in the single digits.
In the city of Sacramento, the number of homicides last year was the highest since 2006, when there were also 57 homicides, according to crime data compiled by the FBI. The 2021 total far surpassed the previous year’s mark and was the second year in a row that homicides increased.
Daniel Hahn, the city’s police chief for four years until Deputy Police Chief Kathy Lester was sworn into the top job on Friday, said most of the homicides last year were committed with guns. On one night alone last month, officers from the Sacramento Police Department’s Gang Enforcement Team conducted three traffic stops and found five illegally possessed and loaded handguns.
“The number of shootings are up significantly,” Hahn said. “And the number of guns we’re finding on the street is skyrocketing.”
Chief believes violence will trend downward
Speaking to The Sacramento Bee in October about his retirement and the recent surge in deadly violence, Hahn said a “perfect storm” of circumstances allowed for violent crime to thrive amid a large amount of guns available on the street. He said reports from his lieutenants and sergeants showed multiple guns confiscated by officers each night.
And he says the COVID-19 pandemic isolated people from needed resources for more than a year, which is evident in aggressive behavior that often escalated to violence.
“I think you can see it everywhere,” Hahn said. “You see it on the road when you’re driving, that people are more aggressive and quicker to anger.”
Investigators said Martin, the 7-year-old girl killed in November, was inadvertently shot by her uncle, Tyrice Martin, during a confrontation with Clifford Hall, 42, at the Marina Vista public housing complex in the 2600 block of Fifth Street, near Seavey Circle. Prosecutors have charged Martin with murder in Hall’s death and involuntary manslaughter in his niece’s death.
Hahn also pointed to California’s decision last year to reduce jail and prison inmate populations to prevent a further spread of COVID-19. Those policies led to the release of people who would’ve been in custody two or three years ago but were released without an expansion of re-entry or rehabilitation programs.
“At the same time, we’ve had a lot of unrest. There’s a lot of anger that’s been longstanding. So, our officers have been tied up on increased call volumes, protests, staffing issues,” Hahn said. “So all of those things together I think play a significant role in the increase in violence in our community and across the country.”
Old Sacramento received funding to improve safety after brazen shootings there last year, including a shooting in July that killed two people, a 21-year-old father and a 16-year-old boy, and injured four others in the city’s oldest commercial district. Cedric Joe Salcedo and Marcus Matthew Trull were arrested on suspicion of homicide in the July shooting.
Hahn said he hopes the violence will trend downward a bit once more people return to work and the economy bounces back from the pandemic. And he said there must be a solution to a bail release system that’s based on whether someone poses a threat to the public, not how much money they have.
“I too believe there are people that are in custody that don’t necessarily need to be there, but we can’t just let people out, just all people no matter what their charges are,” Hahn said. “So I do think there needs to be some well thought out and collaborative ways of figuring out what are we going to do about guns and how are we gonna evolve in our custody and our law enforcement arrest and custody process in the criminal justice system.”
Sacramento Sheriff’s Office had fewer homicides
In 2020, the number of homicides in Sacramento County reached triple-digit figures for the first time in 10 years. The county had 92 homicides in 2019.
Throughout California, homicides increased 31% in 2020, the same year hundreds of thousands of new guns were purchased at record levels in the state, according to annual data released by the California Department of Justice.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office reported a decline to 38 in 2021 from 49 homicides in 2020. Among those victims was Rodney Hallett, 69, who was hit by a pickup in a rampage in Carmichael that injured three others. Jorge Armando Zepeda was arrested on suspicion of homicide and other charges in the June incident that involved two pedestrians hit by the pickup and an attack a few blocks away that involved a gun and what appeared to be a crowbar.
The Sheriff’s Office also investigated a shooting at a large Halloween party that killed Terrence Tiny Long, 32, and Daron Turner, 22, and injured five other people. Hykeem Marquis Davis was arrested in connection with the Oct. 30 shooting at the Royal Castle Banquet Hall.
Other police agencies in Sacramento County saw a slight increase in homicides, such as the Elk Grove Police Department with four last year. Marya Guillen, 36, was one of the Elk Grove victims. She was stabbed in the neck at a Sierra Street home. Prosecutors have charged Ricky Sims with murder in Guillen’s death after officers used a less-than-lethal device to subdue him at the home.
The Citrus Heights Police Department saw a slight increase from two homicides in 2020 to three in 2021. The Rancho Cordova Police Department investigated three homicides last year, a drop from six killings the year before.
The Folsom Police Department had two homicides last year after not having any in 2020. One of the deaths involved a dispute in May between two homeless men that escalated to a stabbing. Gary Allen was arrested in the stabbing that killed 48-year-old Marlon Patrick.
The Galt Police Department had no homicides in 2020 but investigated a fatal shooting last year. Agustin Granados Camacho was arrested on suspicion of shooting his wife, 56-year-old Ma Villagran-Ortiz, after an argument at a Walnut Avenue home.
Other law enforcement agencies in the four-county capital region saw slight decreases in homicides last year, including the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, which dropped from three to two killings. One of the victims last year was Sasha Beach, 39, of Davis, who was shot at a Yolo County home in January. James Graham, 38, was arrested on suspicion of murder in Beach’s death.
Overall, the Yolo County Coroner’s Office handled eight homicide cases last year, one fewer than 2020.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office had one homicide; the same as the previous year. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department investigated two homicides last year after having none the year before.
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office had two homicide cases last year; one fewer than 2020. One of the cases involved the discovery of a man’s body with his feet bound in a Placer County canal in August. The man was later identified as 30-year-old James Pascual Rodriguez who died of head trauma. His death was being investigated as a homicide.
The Roseville Police Department saw a drop in homicides from four to two last year. One of the Roseville victims was Vita Joga, who was working as a waitress at the House of Oliver restaurant in June when she was shot to death.
Johnnie Jordan IV was arrested in connection with Joga’s death on suspicion of murder, corporal injury to a spouse, committing a felony while free on bail or release and violating a restraining order.
