Damion Horton Sentenced For 2019 First-Degree Murder Of Girlfriend In South Sacramento
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A man was sentenced to 76 years to life in prison for the first-degree murder of his girlfriend in south Sacramento in January 2019, prosecutors said Friday.
Damion Horton, 20, was convicted last September of fatally shooting Dajha Richards, 19, in the chest along Orchard Woods Circle, which is behind the Save Mart and Rite Aid at the intersection of Power Inn and Gerber roads.
According to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, Horton fled the scene immediately after the shooting and left Richards with the pair's four-month-old son and Richards' brother.
Richards' brother, who was 12 at the time, called 911 to report she had been shot. When sheriff's deputies arrived, Richards, who was clinging on to life, was able to tell them Horton was the person who had shot her.
She died later on at an area hospital.
Horton turned himself in more than 24 hours after the shooting, but the gun has never been recovered, prosecutors said.
Investigators later learned that Horton had a history of domestic violence with Richards. Additionally, it was found that Horton had a prior strike conviction for attempted robbery in 2016.
During the investigation, detectives found that friends and family of Horton were hiding him from police. Horton's mother, 37-year-old Yolanda Smith of Sacramento, was arrrested at the time for being an accessory after the fact and violating her parole.
