Mother of slain Sacramento musician DJ Gio finds storage unit vandalized, his gear stolen
Anita Razo has grieved nonstop since her son died last April in a shooting that followed an attempted robbery in Natomas.
She suffered another blow earlier this month when she discovered her storage unit burglarized and items stolen that belonged to her son, Giovanni Isidro Razo Pizano – better known as DJ Gio – a beloved figure in Sacramento’s music scene.
She said the thieves stole designer shoes, designer clothes, and music equipment, including turntables she bought for her son when he was 11. Razo believes she lost up to $250,000 worth of valuables, including items she intended to donate to a nonprofit foundation that carries on her son’s memory.
“It’s heart-wrenching,” Razo said. “First, my son is killed during an attempt to rob him of his jewelry and now these grave robbers steal the only things I had left of my son.”
She discovered the theft around noon on Jan. 3, when she approached her unit at SmartStop Self Storage at 3970 Pell Circle and found the unit’s door opened and items thrown out into the hallway.
She believes the act was “an inside job” targeted at her late son. No other units appeared to be damaged, she said.
“It was targeted at Gio’s belongings. If it was random they would have robbed other units too but my unit was the only one. No other unit was opened or robbed,” said Razo.
When SmartStop site manager Tyler Smith did his rounds, he too, confirmed no other units were robbed. Smith told The Bee that he could not provide further information.
A police report was filed with the Sacramento Police Department but officers would not release information on the incident because it’s an active investigation.
Arrest in DJ Gio’s slaying
DJ Gio died April 10 in a shooting that police said “centered around a robbery attempt.” Vernon Mulder III of Vallejo also died in the incident.
Police arrested Nigel Robinson of Vallejo in June and booked him into Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of the shooting. Razo has said Robinson and Mulder were trying to rob her son when the shooting took place.
SmartStop is eleventh-largest self storage company in the U.S., with a portfolio of over 175 properties in 22 states and Canada, according to its website.
The company took over the location on 3970 Pell Circle from Public Storage last May, a week after Razo rented her unit through Public Storage.
According to the SmartStop website, each storage facility has state of the art security, including 24/7 video surveillance and a keypad-gated access.
Smith said this is the first incident at the location since SmartStop took over last spring. Smith said all the cameras at the facility are properly working, as is the security system.
This SmartStop Self Storage location has three main facility entrances for tenants, an east wing automatic sliding door, a loading door near the main office and a set of automatic sliding doors on the far west of the building.
Razo believes it’s possible the culprits got into the facility through the east wing doors that remain open because they were damaged, as if forced entry had occurred there in the past.
Smith said that those doors have been damaged for the last 7 months, just shortly after taking over the property. He expects the damages to be fixed by the end of the month.
Mother’s plan to donate equipment
Razo continues to seek justice for her son’s death and is hoping to find culprits who broke into her storage.
“It’s like killing him all over again,” said Razo. “I’m just hoping somebody out there knows something. It’s not fair, none of it’s fair. It’s all we had left of him, now we don’t.”
Razo started the DJ Gio Nonprofit Foundation in November. She planned to use the DJ equipment to host nonprofit events and help raise money for his foundation. Her hope is that the items are returned so she can put them to use in Sacramento’s DJ community.
