Overview
- Prosecutors said Tuesday there is insufficient evidence to bring homicide charges in the fatal shooting at Natomas High School, calling the incident self-defense under the facts reviewed.
- Police reported taking a 16-year-old into custody on firearms-related charges tied to the case, with further details withheld under juvenile confidentiality rules.
- The district attorney’s office said the teen who died, identified by family as 16-year-old De’Jon Sledge, came to campus Friday with an accomplice, a ski mask, and a handgun to target a specific student and was shot during an attempted robbery.
- Sledge’s mother, speaking through the nonprofit Empact, identified her son and rejected social media claims of gang involvement, describing him as determined to stay on the right path.
- After the killing, the school district added safety staff and Sacramento police during school hours and transitions, community groups offered on-campus counseling, and some parents kept students home as advocates pressed for stronger youth violence-prevention programs.