Defendant Convicted of First-Degree Murder of 17 Year Old
DATE: April 25, 2022
CASE: Curtis Slaton (Case #21FE004429)
PROSECUTOR: Deputy District Attorney Bret Wasley, Homicide Unit
Curtis Slaton was convicted by a jury of the first-degree murder of 17-year-old Jaylen Betschart. The jury also found true the special circumstance of firing from a motor vehicle and the allegation that Slaton personally discharged a firearm causing death.
On October 3, 2020, Sacramento police officers found the victim in his car that had crashed into a utility pole on Jackson Road and Florin-Perkins Road. He had been shot once in the back. Investigators obtained surveillance video from several locations that showed the suspect car chasing the victim down Jackson Road with the shots fired just before the intersection. Investigators identified the car as belonging to Slaton and located the car at Slaton’s residence later the same day. A search warrant at Slaton’s residence recovered a Glock handgun that was found in another vehicle parked at the residence. Casings left at the scene at Jackson Road and Florin-Perkins Road were later found to match the recovered handgun. Further investigation revealed additional evidence that Slaton was the driver of the suspect car and the shooter.
An allegation that Slaton has a prior strike conviction for carjacking will be determined at the sentencing hearing.
Slaton faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibly of parole. Sentencing is set for June 10, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. in Department 12 before the Honorable Maryanne Gilliard.
