SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Smiley Martin, one of the suspected gunmen in the K Street mass shooting, died of a methadone overdose; he was found unresponsive in his cell around 2:15 a.m. June 8.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office revealed on Friday Martin was the only methadone overdose to happen that day.
“We can’t reveal identities. On June 7, during pill call, an inmate took his prescribed methadone and gave it to another inmate whose family member sent him $50 via Cash App. The amount in that dose could be lethal for someone who has not been prescribed that medication or have a tolerance for it. The inmate who received the cup of liquid methadone drank the fatal dose in their cell and died that night,” said Sheriff Jim Cooper.
Tessiejarra Mack, Martin's mother, spoke out for the first time after her son's death with ABC10.
“It is that facility's responsibility to prevent him from doing that; it is their responsibility who comes in, who comes out, what is brought in, what is brought out. It is their responsibility for their safety, for their lives. When they are distributing medication, it is a protocol, and they are at fault,” Mack said.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office says the jail’s policy is the medication must be consumed in front of a nurse and show proof that it’s been consumed.
However, Cooper says some inmates will still find a way to get around the rules.
“These inmates are very savvy. When they take pills, people cheek their pills. You have to watch, and it’s one of those where they play the game, switch the cups, distract the nurse,” Cooper said.
ABC10 shared that response with Mack.
“If inmates can get creative and things can happen, then that is your negligence. That is a lockdown facility. My son is a high-profile case; you should have been watching,” Mack said.
This was not Martin’s first incident with the jail. A civil suit was settled after Martin filed a complaint in 2018 citing fear of retaliation. His brother Dandrae Martin is currently in jail waiting for his trial on the K Street shooting.
“I fear for his life. I fear for his life,” Mack said.
Mack says she spoke to Smiley Martin just hours before his death.
“I heard from Smiley that day. I talked to him on the phone, he was just fine. He was asking me how I was doing and just before hanging up he said, 'I have to go to pill call. I’ll call you back tonight. If I don’t speak to you tonight, then I’ll call you in the morning. I love you,'” Mack said.
Mack said Martin was not taking part in the detox program, does not have a history of drug use and was not on any medication.
“I want them to reevaluate medical services, so this does not happen again. I also want prosecution,” Mack said.
Cooper says they are pursuing prosecution against anyone caught selling drugs in the jail, and Undersheriff Mike Ziegler says they want to pursue murder charges in these cases.
Ziegler also pointed out this is a one-time incident for the jail.
Sheriff Cooper says they do not want anyone to die in the jail, and he has expanded the fentanyl investigation team.
Mack says, so far, she has only received a one-page autopsy report.
The family’s attorney Mark Reichel has asked the county to preserve all evidence for future litigation. The sheriff’s office says this is still an active investigation.
