Suspect arrested in shooting of Grant High student who died day before his graduation

Alex Muegge
·1 min read
15

Homicide detectives with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office announced an arrest of a suspect Saturday in connection with the killing of a Grant Union High School student.

The suspect, identified by the Sheriff’s Office as a 17-year-old boy, was arrested as a suspect in Wednesday’s shooting death of Billy Ray Scott, 18, a night before his high school graduation.

Scott has yet to be identified by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office, but students at Grant High’s commencement Thursday wore T-shirts dedicated to his memory.

Jianna Smith, a 2022 John F. Kennedy High School graduate, holds a shirt dedicated to Billy Scott before the Grant Union High School graduation ceremony Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights neighborhood. Scott, an 18-year-old senior set to graduate, was killed in a North Highlands shooting the night before, authorities said.
Jianna Smith, a 2022 John F. Kennedy High School graduate, holds a shirt dedicated to Billy Scott before the Grant Union High School graduation ceremony Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights neighborhood. Scott, an 18-year-old senior set to graduate, was killed in a North Highlands shooting the night before, authorities said.

Scott was inside a vehicle with two other people at an unknown location in North Highlands when a person walked up and shot into the vehicle through the passenger’s side around 10:30 p.m., striking the Scott in the leg, according to Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

The driver took the vehicle toward Grand Avenue and Marysville Boulevard, where the occupants flagged down a Twin Rivers Police Department officer, Gandhi said. Scott was then transported to Mercy San Juan hospital in Carmichael, where he was pronounced dead.

“Losing a child is an unspeakable tragedy and our entire school community is mourning the loss alongside the student’s family and friends,” Steve Martinez, superintendent of the Twin Rivers Unified School District, said in a letter to students, parents and staff Thursday. “I know you join me in extending our deepest sympathy to the family as they face the pain from this terrible loss.”

Grant Union High School graduating senior Jojo McCray, right, and fellow graduate Richard Sims, both friends of Billy “Duddah” Scott, share an embrace as they prepare for the school’s graduation ceremony Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights neighborhood. Scott, an 18-year-old Grant senior who was set to graduate, was killed in a North Highlands shooting the previous night, authorities said. “We were with him yesterday morning,” McCray said, adding, “Long live Duddah.”