'I'll Probably Be Crying 5 Minutes From Now;' Sacramento Mass Shooting Victims Identified
By Justin Andrews
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) -- Waves of emotion swept over Tamika Turner as she stood near the spot where her brother, 29-year-old De'vazia Turner, was gunned down in a deadly salvo of gunfire early Sunday morning that claimed five other lives and left 12 others wounded.
She was still trying to make sense of her loss.
"They killed my brother," she told KPIX. "I'll probably be crying five minutes from now. I just want to make sure the world to know he was loved. Make sure that's the message that is known -- he was definitely loved and he will always be loved."
Turner left behind four children, who will now have to grow up without their father.
"My brother, he was a family dude," his sister said. "He just had love in him."
While Tamika admitted her brother grew up in the streets and had some troubles in the past, he had turned his life around.
The dead included three men and three women. The Sacramento County Coroner's office identified the other five victims as: Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21.
Meanwhile, Sacramento police said they were searching for at least two people who opened fire around 2 a.m. Sunday on the outskirts of the city's downtown entertainment district. Late Monday morning, authorities announced the arrest of a related suspect, identified as 26-year-old Dandre Martin. He was arrested and booked for assault and illegal firearm possession charges.
The gunfire erupted just after a fight broke out on a street lined with an upscale hotel, nightclubs and bars, but police said they did not know if the altercation was connected to the shooting.
Video from witnesses posted on social media showed rapid gunfire for at least 45 seconds as people screamed and ran for cover.
"I got a call in the middle of the night and I rushed right down," said Fred Harris, father of Sergio Harris. Investigators told the family his son was among the six people killed.
Harris spoke while at the crime scene Sunday, waiting to see his son's body as investigators combed through the scene near the corner of 10th and K Streets.
Sacramento police said they couldn't move the bodies until they were done processing the scene where hundreds of evidence markers were strewn across several streets.
"It's a waiting game. You just got to wait and be patient," Harris said.
He said he was staying strong for the family.
"A whole bunch of shock, yeah, yeah. The shock ain't going to go away overnight," Harris said.
UC Davis Medical Center announced Monday morning that of the four shooting victims they were treating, two had been released.
Sacramento police encourage any witnesses with information regarding the investigation into the mass shooting to contact the SPD dispatch center at (916) 808-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at (916) 443-HELP (4357). Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000. Anonymous tips can also be submitted using the free "P3 Tips" smartphone app.
It was the second mass shooting in Sacramento in the space of just over a month. In late February, three young girls and their chaperone were shot dead by their father during a supervised visit at a Sacramento church before turning the gun on himself.
