K Street Trial Stumbles: Jury Troubles Push Sacramento's Deadliest Shooting Case Into June

The trial over Sacramento’s deadliest mass shooting is grinding forward—but not without friction. What was supposed to wrap up testimony by month’s end is now bleeding into June, thanks to persistent jury issues that have already cost the courtroom valuable days.

Mtula Payton and Dandrae Martin are on trial for their roles in the April 3, 2022 K Street shooting, which left six people dead and 12 wounded in one of Sacramento’s prime nightlife destinations. Prosecutors paint it as a calculated gang-related confrontation. The defense sees it differently: longtime friends out for a Saturday night whose conversation spiraled into sudden, unplanned violence. The stakes are enormous—these are murder and weapons charges tied to Sacramento’s most lethal shooting in recent memory.

The trial was originally expected to take about 12 weeks, with witness testimony finishing by the end of May. But the jury has already lost two jurors to attendance issues, forcing alternates into their seats. That kind of attrition burns time. Forensics experts are expected back on the stand, with the defense drilling down on ballistics—what guns were used, whether they would have left casings at the scene, and how those casings were arranged. These technical details matter enormously in a case where competing narratives hinge on what actually happened that night.

Now closing arguments won’t happen until the end of the first week of June at the earliest. After that, it’s in the jurors’hands—and no one can predict how long deliberation will take. A third defendant, Smiley Martin, also faced charges in connection with the shooting but died in 2024 from methadone toxicity before trial.

The human cost is worth remembering: Johntaya“JoJo”Alexander (21), Melinda Davis (57), and Yamile Martinez-Andrade (21) were innocent bystanders with no involvement in the confrontation. Three other men died as well—DeVazia Turner (29), Sergio Harris (38), and Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi (32)—though California law doesn’t classify them as victims due to their participation in the shooting itself.

This trial matters to Sacramento. It’s a test of how the justice system processes violence on a scale that shook the city. Every delayed day is another day the community waits for answers.