Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues.
QUESTION: What were the circumstances surrounding the incident north of Sacramento two years ago where a man was shot and killed outside a motel room with an assault rifle?
Submitted by: Curious, Sacramento
ANSWER: Charles Antonio Williams was convicted by a Sacramento County jury of murdering 29-year-old Marcel Hatch in May 2010 at the Econo Lodge on Auburn Boulevard.
Williams was sentenced in May 2011 to 50 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors in a trial brief said Williams and Hatch worked as pimps out of the motel. Hatch prevailed in a fight with Williams the day before the shooting and stole Williams' cell phone.
Jurors found that Williams caught up with Hatch at the motel May 8 and shot him with an AK-47. Hatch died two days later.
According to stories in The Bee, four other people who were allegedly passengers in Williams' vehicle at the time of the shooting also were arrested on suspicion of murder. Three of them -- Demetrius Mays, 32, Kenyatta Mays, 20 and Brandy Mays, 28 -- are scheduled for trial Sept. 13, according to Sacramento Superior Court online records.
Court records show the the fourth individual, Lorenzo Mays, 29, was found earlier this month to be incompetent to stand trial. His next court date is Sept. 4.
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