West Sacramento police reveal details of deadly shooting in attempted marijuana robbery
The West Sacramento Police Department on Monday revealed details of a homicide investigation in which officers and medics at the scene believed a driver had died from injuries in a vehicle crash — before an autopsy two days later revealed he was killed by gunfire.
Police said the deadly shooting occurred Aug. 12 in the area of Ikea Court in what police detectives later determined was an attempted robbery during a botched marijuana deal in a parking lot.
Six total suspects have been arrested in the incident, police said Monday, including two juveniles.
The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office has filed murder charges against Jayden Sevon Davis, 20; Lawrence James Cain, 22; and Rafi Bader Khani, 20; in the Aug. 12 shooting. The three men also face a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery, according to an amended criminal complaint filed Sept. 8 in Yolo Superior Court.
Davis and Cain also face a special circumstances enhancement to the murder charge, alleging they committed the crime during an attempted robbery. The victim is only identified as “D.J.” in the filed court document. The Police Department has not released his name.
Sacramento County Coroner’s Office records list 29-year-old David Marcus Jones, of West Sacramento, as a man who died in a homicide shortly before 2 p.m. Aug. 12, in the westbound lanes of Reed Avenue at Interstate 80 in West Sacramento. Jones’ death was initially classified as a vehicle crash in coroner records but has since been changed to a homicide.
Victim, suspects met in a Walmart parking lot
Prosecutors alleged in the criminal complaint that Cain set up a deal to buy marijuana from “D.J.” in West Sacramento, and he told Davis and Khani about robbing the victim. One of the would-be robbers brought a gun to a Walmart parking lot in West Sacramento, according to the complaint.
In the parking lot, Cain got in a vehicle with the victim and sent a text message to Davis about when to approach the car he was in, prosecutors said. One of the alleged co-conspirators then reached into the victim’s car and fatally shot him, according to the complaint.
Officers were called to the incident, which was initially reported as a single-vehicle crash on Reed Avenue, just east of I-80. West Sacramento police said the driver was pronounced dead, and officers and medics at the scene believed he died from injuries suffered in the vehicle crash.
Two days later, the Yolo County Coroner’s Office autopsy revealed the victim suffered a gunshot wound that killed him within minutes and likely caused him to crash, police said Monday. The driver’s death was then ruled a homicide.
The Police Department’s investigations division was notified of the autopsy findings and started a search for clues. Police officials said the homicide investigation led to several leads with help from the victim’s family and patrol officers.
Over the following weeks, detectives identified suspects and vehicles believed to be associated with the shooting death. Police said the detectives determined the victim was in possession of marijuana for sale, and he was in the area of Ikea Court for the purpose of brokering an illegal sale of marijuana.
An expended shell casing from the lethal shot was forensically examined and determined to match shell casings from two other shootings in the Sacramento region, which are still under investigation. The Police Department did not include any further details about those shooting investigations in a Facebook post Monday announcing the arrests in the homicide investigation.
Six people arrested in fatal shooting
The detectives identified four adults and two minors as being involved in the attempted robbery that resulted in the homicide. Police said one suspect was arrested in early September in Sparks, Nevada, along with a simultaneous arrest of a second suspect in Sacramento County. Two other suspects were taken into custody in West Sacramento.
As of Monday, all six suspects in the homicide have been arrested. The Police Department has not released any other information about the arrested suspects, including the names of the adults, the suspects’ ages or which criminal charges they face. Law enforcement agencies don’t release the names of underage arrested suspects because they are minors.
The Sparks Police Department said Davis was arrested Sept. 4 on a homicide arrest warrant for a West Sacramento shooting, CBS 13 reported.
It’s unclear which charges the three other arrested people face for their alleged involvement in the fatal shooting. West Sacramento police officials on Monday did not respond to phone calls and emails from The Sacramento Bee seeking further information about the arrests.
Court records show Davis, Cain and Khani remain in custody at the Yolo County Jail. They are being held without bail. The court has scheduled a preliminary hearing starting Nov. 1 to determine whether there’s enough evidence for the defendants to stand trial as charged.
