SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A 31-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a drive-by shooting that took the life of a Sacramento resident. Devonte Lee White was found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting of 30-year-old Matthew Salas-Keen, along with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The fatal shooting occurred on January 25, 2022, in the 3700 block of Dayton Street, just south of Grand Avenue.
The deadly shooting stemmed from a confrontation two weeks prior when White got into an argument with a group of people Salas-Keen was with at a market near his home. Prosecutors stated that White left the market and returned with a gun that he used to confront Salas-Keen. The security camera video showed a vehicle passing Salas-Keen, making a U-turn, passing his home a second time, and then backing up to shoot him at point-blank range.
Sacramento police officers were called to the scene after Salas-Keen was found wounded by gunfire. He later died from his injuries at the hospital. Authorities found a stolen handgun at White’s apartment, and the District Attorney’s Crime Lab matched the firearm to expended shell casings found at the scene and in the vehicle used in the drive-by shooting.
Traces of White’s DNA were found on the gun used to kill Salas-Keen. White was arrested on suspicion of homicide in Salas-Keen’s death after already being in jail custody on a charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon. The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office stated that the judge gave White the maximum prison sentence for the charges.