The mainstream media is just plain silly. An illegal alien kills a couple. The media plays this as if the illegal alien was a decent person, a citizen, who killed the wrong people. Confused—this is an illegal alien, a criminal from another country, killing Americans.
“Both suspects in this shooting are citizens of El Salvador. Salinas Police investigators said Gonzalo is a known and active gang member.
Both suspects had previously been deported back to El Salvador. Gonzalo was deported on June 18 of 2021.”
Both murderers had been in prison, both on parole—instead of being deported. In this murder, the State of California is a co-conpsirator.
‘Mistaken identity’ blamed for murder of young Salinas couple
KION, 2/17/22
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV)– Salinas Police said a case of ‘mistaken identity’ led to the tragic killing of a young couple in early February.
Police said Jesus Arias Villa, 22, and his girlfriend, Karina Chavez Vargas, 23, were shot and killed while sitting in their car across from Closter Park on Feb. 5.
“They were a young couple in love with absolutely zero criminal history,” said Salinas Mayor Kimbley Craig.
After combing through 1,000 hours of surveillance video — police said they collected enough evidence to make two arrests for the double murder. Cousins Gonzalo Echeverria, 24, and Jose Echeverria, 34, were arrested earlier this week.
“We have two cowards that are in custody. But the reality is we lost two beautiful lives,” said Salinas Police Chief Roberto Filice during a press conference Wednesday.
Police said at around 8 p.m., Jesus Arias Villa and Karina Chavez Vargas were sitting in a vehicle when two suspects approached and opened fire.
Gonzalo and Jose then got in a white Nissan Altima and drove off towards Grandhaven St.
Police said they had no leads and zero witnesses and had to locate surveillance video to identify the vehicle.
After searching through 1,000 hours of video from nearby homes and businesses, they identified the vehicle and served several warrants.
Suspects in Salinas double homicide.
On Feb. 11 Salinas Police served three warrants and arrested Gonzalo on charges of being a felon in possession of ammo and for a parole violation.
Then on Feb. 14 they arrested and charged Gonzalo on two counts of murder.
Jose was located and arrested on Feb. 15 and also charged with two counts of murder.
“I’m glad justice is being served even though it won’t give us Karina and Jesus back. I hope it gives us all some peace of mind knowing that the people responsible for this are not out there free and able to hurt more people,” Karina’s friend Maura Gonzalez Ramirez said. “We all knew that they were good people and had never done anything wrong and didn’t deserve it at all. Now with the results of the investigation being that they were mistaken for wrong identity, the community can be even more certain that these were two innocent lives lost. Because a lot of people tried to said that Jesus was responsible, but all that knew him knew this wasn’t the case.”
“We’re reminded yet again that innocent residents may become victims at any time by members of violent gangs. These kinds of horrific crimes affect the way we think, where we go, how we live, our lives and how we raise our children,” said Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni.
Pacioni said Gonzalo was a convicted felon who was sentenced to jail in September of 2019 — but the parole board released him after serving just two years of an eight-year and four-month sentence.
“We objected to the parole release, but the parole board released him anyway. These murders are an example of the soft on crime laws that are being passed without thought or consideration for the impact on victims in our communities,” said Pacioni.
He was convicted of being in possession of a loaded firearm by a gang member in a vehicle and assisting a gang member to escape from prison, according to Pacioni.
The reason for the D.A.’s objection was due to Gonzalo’s gang ties. “What do you think a known gang member is going to do when released from prison? Get a job?” Monterey County Chief Assistant D.A. Berkely Brannon said.
“When a gang member goes to prison and gets out years early and kills two innocent people, unfortunately it is not only unsurprising and outrageous, it clearly demonstrates we are on the wrong path in California,” Pacioni added. “This is not something our local police, courts and prosecutors can fix. The people of this state must act.”
In a letter given to KION, seen above, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office protested the Board of Parole Hearings’ decision to release Gonzalo.
KION reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and received this statement in response:
“Echeverria was sentenced to CDCR on Sept. 27, 2019, from Monterey County to serve a five-year, eight-month sentence for carrying a loaded firearm in public and criminal gang activity as a second-striker. The sentencing court awarded Echeverria 625 days of pre-sentence credits awarded while awaiting trial, 17 days post-sentence credits awarded while awaiting transport to state prison, and 17 days of vested credits which are the corresponding Good Conduct Credits awarded for the days spent awaiting transfer to state prison (post-sentence credits). Under California law, Echeverria was eligible for day-for-day (50%) credit earning during his incarceration. Echeverria’s release date was identified as Sept. 30, 2021, but under emergency COVID-19 measures for eligible incarcerated persons with 180 days or left to serve, his release date was expedited to May 25, 2021. Echeverria’s sentence did not require a Board of Parole Hearings suitability hearing.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Both suspects in this shooting are citizens of El Salvador. Salinas Police investigators said Gonzalo is a known and active gang member.
Both suspects had previously been deported back to El Salvador. Gonzalo was deported on June 18 of 2021.
Police said there are no outstanding suspects left and said there is no further threat to the community.
The D.A. said both suspects appeared in court Wednesday but did not enter a plea. Their arraignment was rescheduled for Feb. 22.
