Smiley Martin, the man arrested in connection with Sunday’s Sacramento shooting that left six people dead, was recently freed from prison and had posted a live Facebook video of himself brandishing a handgun just hours before the shooting, police said.
Three men and three women were killed in the city’s second mass shooting in five weeks on Sunday. Twelve others were injured in the incident.
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One of the suspects, 26-year-old Dandrae Martin, was taken into custody on Monday as a “related suspect” on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and being a convict carrying a loaded gun.
The following day, his brother, 27-year-old Smiley Martin, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun.
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Investigation revealed that Smiley was released from prison on probation in February after serving his term for assaulting his girlfriend. Martin may have been released sooner, but a Parole Board rejected his bid for early release in May after prosecutors said the 2017 felony assault along with convictions for possessing an assault weapon and thefts posed “a significant, unreasonable risk of safety to the community.”
“Martin’s criminal conduct is violent and lengthy,” a Sacramento prosecutor wrote in a letter obtained by Associated Press. “Martin has committed several felony violations and clearly has little regard for human life and the law.”
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The investigation also revealed that just hours before Sunday’s attack, Martin posted a live Facebook video of himself brandishing a handgun. Authorities were trying to determine whether the gun Martin brandished in the video was used.
Meanwhile, the Sacramento County coroner identified the three women killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21. The three men killed were Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and De’vazia Turner, 29.
Smiley was also wounded in the shooting and remained hospitalised.