Jurors in Solano County Superior Court spent part of this week studying graphic crime-scene photos and listening to expert witnesses who prosecutors say tie Trine Daniel Martinez to a pre-dawn Fairfield shooting that left two men dead and a third wounded in March 2022. Prosecutors told the panel the images and testimony form a chain of evidence they argue links Martinez to the scene where an argument spun into gunfire.
The photos projected in court included what appeared to be Martinez's California driver's license lying on a sidewalk, a black jacket near pools of blood, a Modelo beer can inside a white Chevrolet Silverado and dozens of orange triangular markers identifying spent shell casings, according to The Reporter. Former crime-scene investigator Katie Rae also testified that a leather holster was recovered from a bedroom at a residence in the 300 block of San Jose Street during a search, although investigators never located a firearm.
Background: The 2022 shooting
According to law enforcement, the violence broke out in the pre-dawn hours of March 13, 2022, on the 200 block of East Tabor Avenue near a 7-Eleven after an altercation among the people involved. Fairfield police later identified the men killed as 44-year-old Earl “Wayne” Wyatt III and 36-year-old Damion Davis. A third man, 28-year-old Victor Walters, was hospitalized, treated and released.
As reported by KCRA, Martinez turned himself in to Fairfield police the following day and was booked on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Evidence and expert testimony
On the stand, Solano County forensic pathologist Dr. Arnold Josselson testified that Davis suffered a gunshot wound to the brain and that Wyatt was struck by 11 bullets, two of which were fatal, testimony detailed by The Reporter. The outlet also notes that while Davis's official cause of death was listed as pneumonia, Josselson told jurors the gunshot wound was the more likely cause.
Prosecutors told the court that the charges and alleged firearm enhancements could expose Martinez to roughly 50 years to life in prison if he is convicted. After the latest round of testimony, the judge dismissed the jury for the day and ordered them to return at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Where the case goes from here
Martinez has pleaded not guilty, and the trial is expected to continue as both sides present more evidence and arguments to the jury. Detectives are still asking anyone with information about the 2022 shooting to contact Fairfield police, a request first made public shortly after the incident and later reiterated in coverage by CBS Sacramento.
