On March 14, 2025, Dawn Nicole Wagner, 50, was fatally shot in the parking lot of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church on the 7500 block of Center Parkway in Sacramento. The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office says she was pronounced dead at the scene around 5:45 p.m. Both Wagner and the suspect had been attending a Narcotics Anonymous meeting at the church; the church said Wagner had come seeking comfort and support.

The suspect, identified as 64-year-old John Albert Binion of Sacramento, turned himself in at the Sacramento County Main Jail shortly after the shooting and was booked on charges including felony murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. Police say Wagner and Binion knew each other, but the nature of their relationship and the motive remain under investigation. Wagner was born January 21, 1975, in Monterey and most recently lived in Sacramento; she was a mother of three daughters and a grandmother of six grandchildren, and family members described her as someone who had reclaimed her life.

If anyone who attended the meeting or was in the church parking lot that evening has information, please come forward.