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3 of 6 dead in Sacramento shootout were in gang dispute, district attorney says

A message left for one of the victims of a recent mass shooting sits among flowers and candles at a memorial in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, April 9, 2022. The April 3 shooting, which left six dead and 12 wounded, occurred near the state Capitol, an area that in recent years has been rattled by rising crime, protests and the economic drubbing of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Newly filed court documents in the downtown Sacramento shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others reveal that three of the dead had been involved in the gang dispute that led to the massive shootout, with at least one of them firing a weapon.

Documents filed Friday by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s office show that the three deceased men affiliated with gangs were Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, Devazia Turner, 29, and Sergio Harris, 38, The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday.

Turner fired a weapon, but it was unclear if all three fired weapons. Police have said there were at least five suspects in the April 3 shooting.

Two of the suspects — brothers Smiley and Dandrae Martin — were wounded and are hospitalized or in jail. A third suspect, Mtula Payton, 27, remains at large.

In a social media clip posted hours before the shooting, the Martin brothers are seen posing with Hoye-Lucchesi and two handguns and a rifle. In the video, Hoye-Lucchesi and Smiley Martin, 27, talk about going downtown while armed to loiter outside nightclubs and “boast about shooting rival gang members,” according to a 13-page document.

In the video, both Hoye-Lucchesi and Smiley Martin state allegiance to the Garden Blocc Crips.

Later, surveillance footage from downtown Sacramento April 3 at 1:57 a.m. shows a person next to Smiley Martin pointing in the direction of Payton and Turner, according to the documents. Authorities say both are members of a rival gang, G-Mobb.

Seconds later, Payton and Turner start approaching the corner where the Martin brothers and Hoye-Lucchesi are standing, court papers said. Payton and Turner are joined by Sergio Harris, identified in documents as a member of ally gang Del Paso Heights Bloods.

Shortly after 2 a.m., Smiley Martin is seen exchanging gunfire with Devazia Turner, the documents said.

Hoye-Lucchesi, Turner and Harris were killed, along with Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21.

Deputy District Attorney Brad Ng filed the documents to make sure Smiley Martin, who is hospitalized, is not released on bail once he is booked into Sacramento County Main Jail, the Bee reported. Authorities plan to charge him with being a felon in possession of a handgun and carrying a machine gun that night.

Martin reportedly fired 28 rounds from a Glock 19 handgun and others returned fire until more than 100 shell casings littered the streets, according to the court documents.

Dandre Martin, 26, is in jail on weapons related charges but has not been charged with homicide.