SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Six months after a 31-year-old Sacramento DJ was robbed and killed in front of his Natomas home after returning from a performance, his family and friends held a candlelight vigil to remember him and call for an end to escalating gun violence across the city.
Giovani Isidro Razo Pizano, also known by his stage name “DJ Gio,” was killed during a shooting on April 10, 2022, in an apparent robbery along Amelia Earhart Avenue, according to the Sacramento Police Department. Two months later on June 16, Sacramento Police arrested Nigel Robinson, 22, as a suspect in the homicide. A second man, Vernon Mulder, was also shot to death during the incident.
Family members say DJ Gio first spun tracks at 11 years old, later turning his childhood dream into a career.
“It’s hard to drive by this neighborhood, it’s hard to just live here anymore,” said Anita Razo, DJ Gio's mom. “He even told his girlfriend that night you know ‘what a blessing it is to come home,’ and instead, he came here, was ambushed, and killed.”
DJ Gio's girlfriend Elizabeth Sanchez says she finds some comfort in the support from community members.
“It helps me just know that he was just so loved by everybody,” Sanchez said.
Among friends and family there in support were also the parents of Greg “Najee” Grimes, the 31-year-old football coach and Inderkum High School staffer, a bystander killed while leaving a downtown Sacramento nightclub 3 months ago on July 4.
“There has to be accountability, there has to be a better way of checking to make sure that these weapons are not being brought in,” Razo said.
The families now join in calls for mandatory metal detectors and exterior cameras at nightlife venues, while doing everything they can to keep their loved ones' memories alive.
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