Sacramento Man Convicted in 2022 Drive-By Shooting Faces 24 Years

A Sacramento County jury convicted Devin Devon Smith this week on four felony counts stemming from a December 2022 shooting in which he leaned out of a car window at a red light and fired two gunshots into an occupied truck. The verdicts, returned Wednesday, include two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm at an inhabited vehicle, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Smith now faces a maximum of 24 years in state prison.

According to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, the shooting happened when Smith fired at an occupied truck while stopped at a red light, striking the vehicle with one bullet that lodged just below the rear passenger window. Investigators tied Smith to the shooting through a matching shell casing found under the mat of his own car. Prosecutors say the victims did not know Smith, and no clear motive for the attack has been established.

Jurors also found true an allegation that Smith had a prior strike conviction for burglary, along with aggravating factors showing he used a weapon and engaged in violent conduct posing a serious danger to society, the DA's office reported. Those findings carry significant weight at sentencing, since California's Two Strikes provisions under Penal Code Sections 667 and 1170.12 double the baseline prison term for any subsequent felony once a prior strike is proven, according to the Shouse Law Group.

How the Charges Add Up to 24 Years

Each individual count carries its own statutory range. Discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle under Penal Code Section 246 is classified as a violent felony punishable by 3, 5, or 7 years in state prison, per Justia Law. On top of that, the jury's true finding on personal firearm use triggers a mandatory, consecutive enhancement of 3, 4, or 10 years under Penal Code Section 12022.5, according to the Esfandi Law Group. The felon-in-possession count adds up to another 3 years, since Penal Code Section 29800(a)(1) bars anyone with a prior felony from owning or possessing a firearm.

The prosecution was led by Deputy District Attorney Noah Abolafia-Rosenzweig of the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office Major Crimes Unit, which handles the county's most serious felony cases. The seed announcement of the two assault counts and the true firearm-use finding was first posted by the Sacramento County DA on social media, describing the office's mission as being “committed to providing the highest level of public protection, in the courtroom and in the community.”

Sentencing Set for Next Month

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on September 11 in Department 11A before Superior Court Judge Carlton Davis. Davis was appointed to the Sacramento bench in April 2020 after serving as a court commissioner and spending 13 years as a deputy district attorney in Sacramento and Riverside counties, according to Ballotpedia. He was also the first Black man appointed to a judgeship in Sacramento County in 20 years.

It remains unknown whether Davis will impose the full 24-year maximum at next month's hearing, or whether defense counsel will pursue post-trial motions or seek to strike the prior burglary conviction before sentencing. Those questions are expected to be resolved when the case returns to court next month.