(GoRealNewsNow.com) – One of three suspects charged in the 2022 Sacramento mass shooting, where six people died and twelve were injured, died at the Sacramento County Main Jail.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office reported that at around 2:15 a.m., deputies did a cell check in the 5-East 300 Pod and saw an inmate was unresponsive and they started first aid, while jail medical staff also responded.
Subsequently, Sacramento Fire Department crews took over life-saving efforts, but the sheriff’s office says the inmate was pronounced dead at the jail.
The suspect’s attorney, Norman Dawson, identified him as Smiley Martin and confirmed that it was his client who died.
“The Public Defender, Amanda Benson, and I have been in contact with Jail Command. They are conducting their investigation. They will likely not provide any details until they have concluded that process,” Dawson said in a statement.
“It is most tragic that Mr. Martin passed away, fighting to defend his innocence in the preliminary hearing process,” the attorney added.
Moreover, the sheriff’s office did not release Martin’s name but noted that the inmate had been in custody since April 20, 2022.
Even though the exact cause of death is not clear, the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office is investigating the case.
Likewise, Martin was one of three suspects accused in the Sacramento mass shooting in the late-night hours of April 2, 2022, that left six people dead.
The brazen gun battle in the heart of Sacramento’s downtown corridor also left another dozen people wounded in what authorities had described as a gang fight between “multiple rivals.”
Martin, along with his brother Dandrae Martin, and a third man, Mtula Payton, were all charged with murder in the shooting. All three are previously convicted felons.
Just weeks before the shooting, Sacramento County had agreed to pay Martin $7,500 in a settlement surrounding a 2018 lawsuit where he claimed that a jail guard was responsible for rival gang members attacking him.
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