Police and the suspect’s lawyer say that he died in his cell on Saturday. He was being held in a California jail on charges related to a mass shooting in the state capital in 2022.
At about 2:15 a.m., the 29-year-old man died while being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail, according to a message on social media from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Roger Dawson, the public attorney, told NBC News that he found out about Smiley Martin’s death on Saturday morning. Martin was going to go to court on three felony charges related to a shooting in Sacramento on April 3, 2022, that killed six people and hurt 12, including two of the people who were accused of shooting.
During a cell check, jail staff found an inmate who wasn’t responding. The sheriff’s office said that the deputies and then the fire department tried to save his life, but he was later declared dead.
The sheriff’s office said it will investigate, and the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office will say what caused the death. The man’s name will be released after his next of kin are notified.
Dawson said in a written statement that Martin was “fighting to defend his innocence in the preliminary hearing process” when he died.
During the shooting around 2 a.m., more than 100 shots were fired quickly in a downtown nightlife area close to the state Capitol building.
As bars and clubs closed for the night, two groups of men with ties to gangs started shooting. This made hundreds of people desperately try to get to safety. Police say at least five people with guns were involved.
Martin, who was 27 years old at the time, was caught while he was in the hospital after being shot. He was charged with murder, having a gun while a criminal, and having a machine gun and transporting it.
His brother Dandrae Martin, who was 26 years old at the time, was also taken as a “related suspect” and charged with assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a loaded gun while in prison. He got some slight injuries.
A police officer said that Dandrae Martin shared a live video of himself with a gun hours before the shooting.
As part of the shooting, a third guy, Mtula Payton, was also charged.
