Autopsy: No foul play, no prescription in Sacramento mass shooting suspect’s jail death
Smiley Martin, one of the accused gunmen in Sacramento’s deadliest mass shooting, died in jail from an accidental overdose of methadone, a medication he wasn’t prescribed, according to his autopsy report.
Martin, 29, was found unresponsive about 2:15 a.m. June 8 in the downtown Sacramento County Main Jail during a cell check, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. He — along with his brother, Dandrae Martin, and Mtula Payton — pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges in connection to the April 3, 2022, shooting at 10th and K streets that killed six people and wounded 12 others.
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office told reporters on Sept. 4 that Martin, who had been incarcerated since his 2022 arrest in connection to the mass shooting, died from an accidental methadone overdose.
But Martin, according to the autopsy report obtained Wednesday by The Sacramento Bee, could not have received the medication through formal channels while in custody, the examiner concluded.
“The decedent had no known prior use or prescription for methadone,” according to the autopsy signed Aug. 26 by forensic pathologist Dr. Sarah Avedschmidt.
Methadone is typically prescribed as a treatment for opioid addiction or to help manage pain.
It’s unclear how Smiley Martin acquired the medication.
Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said previously that a federal medical record privacy law and the agency’s ongoing investigation into Martin’s death prevented him from answering reporters’ questions. Elizabeth Zelidon, a county spokeswoman, also declined to comment, citing the same law outlined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.
“There were no reports of suicidal ideations,” the autopsy says. “Sacramento Sheriff’s Department reported no concerns for foul play.”
Gandhi did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper had previously declined to comment on Martin’s death.
Cooper is scheduled to host a news conference Thursday “to address issues of fentanyl and drugs in the jails,” according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
Martin died as preliminary proceedings into the mass shooting in April 2022 went on in Sacramento Superior Court. Smiley Martin appeared in multiple hearings with Dandrae Martin and Payton. Since his death, prosecutors have dropped the charges against Smiley Martin.
Testimony in the preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue Oct. 15 with the cross-examination of Sacramento police expert on gangs.
This story was originally published September 18, 2024 at 1:12 PM.
