Sacto 9-1-1
August 20, 2012
Jury convicts man in fatal gas station party shooting

Marquise Smith.jpgA Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Marquise Vincent Smith of second-degree murder in the Sept. 4, 2010, shooting death of Danielle Ericka Benefield at an after-hours party at a south area gas station.

Judge David De Alba scheduled the sentencing on Smith, 23, for Sept. 14. Smith faces a probable sentence of at least 40 years-to-life, for the second-degree murder conviction and the additional allegation under the state's "10-20-Life" last that he killed somebody with a firearm.

Benefield and two friends had been having a night on the town that they wrapped up at the Fastrip gas station on Power Inn Road at Florin Road, a popular after-hours hangout. While parked on the street next to the gas station, Smith, according to one witness, began firing at the women's car after saying to them, "Do we have a problem?"

Smith, who had been drinking, had been involved in a chase earlier in the evening. Deputy District Attorney Andrew Smith said the defendant fired into Benefield's car in the mistaken belief that she and another woman had been part of the earlier pursuit.

About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

hide comments
blog comments powered by Disqus


About Sacto 9-1-1

Sacto 9-1-1 is a blog on crime and emergency services news in the Sacramento region.

Send feedback on Sacto 9-1-1 to Assistant Metro Editor Anthony Sorci at asorci@sacbee.com

Subscribe to Breaking News Alerts

FOLLOW US | Get more from sacbee.com | Follow us on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook | Get news in your inbox | View our mobile versions | e-edition: Print edition online | What our bloggers are saying

Sacto 9-1-1 Q&A

Bee reporters answer questions about area crime news, trends and other issues. QUESTION: On March 13, 2010, there was a stabbing death of Monica Ann Anderson at an apartment complex in Citrus Heights. Lan Anh Le was arrested. Could you tell me what the outcome was? Submitted by:Jim, Sacramento ANSWER: (Read More)

More Questions and Answers
See all the crime Q&As
Submit your question

May 2013

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31  

Monthly Archives


Kim Minugh on Twitter

Follow "Kim_Minugh" on Twitter

Local Agencies on Twitter

Categories