This happened Saturday near my house. Turns out it was one of my lil homies that got killed. Aint seen him in years but he was a cool youngster. used to make him wash everybodys rides back in the day. Fuckin sad....nobody deserves to die like this!
Shots killed Salinas man
Victim was dead before his body was set ablaze, investigators say
Monterey County Sheriff's investigators on Monday said Kenneth Jesse Valdez died from gunshot wounds Saturday before his body was set on fire.
Sheriff's Cmdr. Malcolm Gray said Valdez, 20, of Salinas, was shot multiple times at the grassy site where he was found, in a remote area four miles north of San Juan Grade Road.
Valdez's body was still in flames when firefighters and sheriff's deputies arrived in response to a report of a vegetation fire.
Gray said a motive to the murder has not been determined. Because of the fire, detectives don't know if Valdez was robbed prior to his death.
"We can't rule out that it's gang-related, but it's not real evident that (the homicide's) gang-related," Gray said.
No witnesses or suspects have been located, he said, but investigators are continuing to follow several leads.
Gray said it's rare for a murder victim to be set on fire in Monterey County.
"It was done either out of anger or destruction of evidence or both," he said.
Joe and Cecelia Castillo, Valdez's grandparents, have said their grandson was trying to turn his life around.
"He was out of gangs, and he was getting his life straightened out," Joe Castillo said Sunday.
Valdez leaves behind his girlfriend and their two-year-old daughter.
Court documents show Valdez pleaded guilty Jan. 8 to felony charges of possessing methamphetamine in December and trying to cash forged checks in July 2006. The judge sentenced him to three years of probation.
Valdez's family said Monday evening that his funeral will take place later on this week. It will be the second loss in the family to violence in four years, said Israel Ruiz, his stepfather. Ruiz lost his brother, Carlos, to gang violence in Paso Robles in 2003.
Debbie Aguilar of Salinas helped the family through that loss, and said she spoke to Valdez's mother again Monday night to help her through her grief.
Aguilar founded a support group called "A Time for Grieving" after her 18-year-old son, Stephen Joseph Aguilar, was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2002.
The group helps families who have lost loved ones to gang violence by letting them share their experiences with others in the same situation.
"It hits close to home," she said. "I know the pain they're feeling right now and it doesn't feel good."
http://www.californianonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/NEWS01/707170340
Shots killed Salinas man
Victim was dead before his body was set ablaze, investigators say
Monterey County Sheriff's investigators on Monday said Kenneth Jesse Valdez died from gunshot wounds Saturday before his body was set on fire.
Sheriff's Cmdr. Malcolm Gray said Valdez, 20, of Salinas, was shot multiple times at the grassy site where he was found, in a remote area four miles north of San Juan Grade Road.
Valdez's body was still in flames when firefighters and sheriff's deputies arrived in response to a report of a vegetation fire.
Gray said a motive to the murder has not been determined. Because of the fire, detectives don't know if Valdez was robbed prior to his death.
"We can't rule out that it's gang-related, but it's not real evident that (the homicide's) gang-related," Gray said.
No witnesses or suspects have been located, he said, but investigators are continuing to follow several leads.
Gray said it's rare for a murder victim to be set on fire in Monterey County.
"It was done either out of anger or destruction of evidence or both," he said.
Joe and Cecelia Castillo, Valdez's grandparents, have said their grandson was trying to turn his life around.
"He was out of gangs, and he was getting his life straightened out," Joe Castillo said Sunday.
Valdez leaves behind his girlfriend and their two-year-old daughter.
Court documents show Valdez pleaded guilty Jan. 8 to felony charges of possessing methamphetamine in December and trying to cash forged checks in July 2006. The judge sentenced him to three years of probation.
Valdez's family said Monday evening that his funeral will take place later on this week. It will be the second loss in the family to violence in four years, said Israel Ruiz, his stepfather. Ruiz lost his brother, Carlos, to gang violence in Paso Robles in 2003.
Debbie Aguilar of Salinas helped the family through that loss, and said she spoke to Valdez's mother again Monday night to help her through her grief.
Aguilar founded a support group called "A Time for Grieving" after her 18-year-old son, Stephen Joseph Aguilar, was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2002.
The group helps families who have lost loved ones to gang violence by letting them share their experiences with others in the same situation.
"It hits close to home," she said. "I know the pain they're feeling right now and it doesn't feel good."
http://www.californianonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/NEWS01/707170340
