Drive-by shooter convicted of first-degree murder, facing life sentence
A man accused of murder in a drive-by shooting was convicted yesterday in jury trial in Sacramento Superior Court.
Devonte White was convicted of first-degree murder and felon in possession of a firearm. The jury also found true the special circumstance that in the commission of the murder, White intentionally and personally discharged a firearm from a motor vehicle causing death.
On January 25, 2022, Matthew Keen was murdered on the front porch of his residence in a targeted drive-by shooting. He was shot at eight times and hit three times.
Surveillance video showed a vehicle passing the victim, making a U-turn, passing the victim a second time before backing up and the driver shooting the victim at point blank. A stolen handgun was located at Devonte White’s apartment.
The District Attorney’s Crime Lab matched the gun to expended shell casings on scene and in the car used in the shooting. White’s DNA was also located on the firearm.
Two weeks before the murder, White argues with the people the victim was with at a market near the victim’s residence. White left the scene and returned with a firearm that he brandished at the victim.
White faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sentencing is set for September 8, 2023, in Department 11 before Judge James McFetridge.
