Judge Michael Bowman on Wednesday refused to trim the murder charges against two men accused in the 2022 K Street mass shooting, keeping the case on track as a sprawling, high-stakes trial. The ruling leaves Deandre Martin and Mtula Payton each facing three murder counts while their attorneys keep fighting over where a jury should be picked and how much local publicity is too much. If the trial stays in Sacramento, it is currently expected to begin on March 30, 2026.
Judge's written ruling and the venue fight
Bowman laid out his reasoning in a 10‑page written decision that refused to pare back the case and rejected the defense's request for a venue change, finding that testimony and social media posts did not show the level of prejudice that would force the trial out of town. The judge wrote that earlier testimony showed "they were willing to engage in a gun battle no matter who was on the street," according to The Sacramento Bee. He took the venue motion under submission and said he would rule at a later date.
Defense: the shootings were self‑defense
Defense lawyers have painted a very different picture in court, arguing that the gunfire erupted suddenly and that Martin and Payton fired only after they were shot at, a version that would support self‑defense claims. They also say saturation coverage and viral videos have poisoned the Sacramento jury pool, echoing arguments laid out in their motions, KCRA reported. The defense team urged the judge to pare back the counts or send the trial to another county in an effort to secure what they say would be a fairer jury.
Prosecutors say it was a public gun battle
Prosecutors counter that the evidence shows the defendants chose to engage rival gang members in a public, planned exchange of gunfire and cannot dodge responsibility by calling it self‑defense. In court filings and argument, they say anyone who willingly joins a mutual gunfight on a busy downtown block is legally responsible for the deaths of innocent bystanders, as described by the Los Angeles Times. Deputy district attorneys pressed Bowman to leave the murder counts intact and let a jury sort out the competing narratives at trial.
What happened on K Street
The shootout on the night of April 3, 2022, at the 10th and K Street entertainment corridor left six people dead and a dozen more wounded, and it has stayed front and center in Sacramento's running debate over downtown safety. Investigators collected more than 100 shell casings at the scene and later said multiple people fired weapons in rapid succession, according to coverage that included reporting by the Associated Press. Local outlets have continued tracking later downtown incidents and community concerns, including a December 2025 K Street shooting.
Jury bias and the Haney survey
To bolster their venue-change push, defense experts presented survey research aimed at showing that news coverage has tilted local opinion. In a poll of about 200 Sacramento‑area residents, roughly 22% of those who recognized the case said the defendants were "definitely guilty" and nearly 40% said they were "probably guilty," the expert testified. The study also found that about a quarter of respondents changed their behavior after the shooting, including avoiding downtown, per reporting in The Sacramento Bee. Those findings have become a key plank in the effort to move the trial or narrow the charges.
Next steps and legal stakes
With Bowman keeping the murder counts in place for now, the case is edging closer to a full trial that prosecutors say will finally settle the clashing accounts of what happened on K Street. The court still has to decide whether the trial will remain in Sacramento and how to manage the glare of pretrial publicity; earlier reporting shows preliminary hearings have featured extensive testimony and evidence, KCRA noted. The defendants remain scheduled to face trial in Sacramento if venue remains here, and the court has signaled it will issue a ruling on the venue motion in the coming weeks.
