Trial to continue next week as defense argues K Street defendants acted in self-defense
Jurors will return Monday for additional closing arguments in the K Street murder trial of Mtula Payton and Dandrae Martin, the remaining suspects in Sacramento’s deadliest-ever mass shooting, as defense attorneys argue that self-defense and survival were the men’s sole motivation on that April night.
Attorney Linda Parisi, who represents Dandrae Martin, addressed Sacramento Superior Court jurors for a second day Thursday, again arguing that a wounded Martin defended himself and his brother, Smiley, amid the hail of gunfire that killed six people and wounded 13 others.
Martin and Payton face murder charges related to three of the deaths, the fatal shootings of Yamile Martinez, 21; Johntaya Alexander, 21; and Melinda Davis, 57, in the seconds after 2 a.m. on April 3, 2022. The seven-woman, five-man jury could begin deliberations as early as next week.
Sacramento County prosecutors have placed Martin and Payton at the center of the massacre, a shootout at 10th and K streets that prosecutors say was fueled by gang rivalry, score-settling, anger and bravado, with deadly consequences.
“The act of one is the act of all,” prosecuting deputy district attorney Megan Eixenberger said during Wednesday’s session. “They’ve got their guns out. They’re ready to engage at the corner. They’ve all got them, and they’re ready to use them.”
Eixenberger will rebut the defense arguments next week and is expected to reassert that suspected gang animosity and expectations of retribution were at the heart of the deadly mass shooting.
Three men, suspected shooters Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchessi, 32; and Davazia Turner, 29, were also killed.
But Parisi argued repeatedly over nearly two days that there was “no standoff, no plan, no agreement” and no gang rivalry that triggered the gunfire. She is scheduled to continue her closing argument Monday.
The catalyst for the killings, she argued, was neither Martin nor Payton, but Sergio Harris.
“There is no evidence anyone agreed to do this,” Parisi said. “Without an agreement, all you have is Sergio Harris acting independently and people reacting to it.....There’s gunfire in all directions and (shell) casings everywhere. This is not a standoff.”
Payton attorney Reid Kingsbury argued earlier in the trial that Harris fired the first shots, killing Payton friend Turner and igniting the chaos.
“The district attorney promised you a gang case — and didn’t deliver it,” Parisi said Thursday. “What you’ve got is chaos and reaction.”
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