Antioch man takes plea deal, 3 years in prison, in 2020 Oakland shooting after preliminary hearing reveals possible self-defense argument

OAKLAND — Two years after he was arrested and charged with murder, an Antioch man has accepted a three-year prison term as part of a plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors, court records show.

Michael Sanders, 21, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of 22-year-old Sergio Martinez, of Oakland. Prosecutors dropped murder charges against Sanders in exchange for his plea.

The charges stemmed from an Aug. 28, 2020, shooting in the 8600 block of Holly Street in Oakland.

During Sanders’ April 2021 preliminary hearing, authorities testified that everyone involved in the shooting was a suspected gang member and that Martinez and another man had driven by Sanders and two of his friends twice. The first time, a shot rang out from their Acura. The second time, they came close to striking the group with the vehicle.

As the Acura was driving away after the second go-round, Sanders and others allegedly fired upwards of 20 shots, fatally striking Martinez.

At the preliminary hearing, Sanders’ attorney argued the shooting was self-defense, stating that Martinez was high on cocaine and drunk, and that when he became intoxicated he would sometimes talk about settling a score with people from the neighborhood who had fired shots at his mother years earlier.

The prosecution agreed there was a possible self-defense argument but said it was invalidated by the fact that Sanders didn’t fire until after the Acura was leaving. Judge Michael Gaffey ruled that there was enough evidence to order Sanders to stand trial on a murder charge but threw out an attempted murder count.

Sanders will be formally sentenced to three years next February, then will likely serve the remainder of his sentence in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.