SALINAS, Calif. (KRON) — Violent California prison inmates are being released back into society, only to strike again, a district attorney said this week.
Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni blasted the Governor and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for freeing too many prisoners under Prop. 57 laws.
Pacioni’s statements were made in reaction to a recent double homicide in Salinas.
A young couple, 22-year-old Jesus Arias Villa and 23-year-old Karina Chavez Vargas, were shot to death Feb. 5 on Towt Street by two gang members, according to Salinas police.
“Investigators have determined that Jesus and Karina were not the intended targets of this senseless act of violence, and that it was a case of mistaken identity,” the Salinas Police Department wrote.
The victims were two innocent civilians and “cherished members of our community,” the District Attorney said.
One of the accused killers, Gonzalo Echeverria, was released from prison last year. He only served two years behind bars for an 8-year prison sentence.
“These tragic murders might have been avoided except for an unthinking, soft-on-crime attitude by our California executive branch and CDCR,” Pacioni said.
Echeverria was back on the streets of Salinas Feb. 5 because of California’s new laws, Pacioni 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, but it also clearly demonstrates we are on the wrong path in California,” Pacioni said.
The CDCR “unilaterally and without public input” changed sentences defendants serve under California’s three strikes law, as well as created new ways for inmates to obtain early release, according to Pacioni.
Prison officials defended that changes, asserting that the reforms will “benefit our criminal justice system and communities by continuing to create incentives and opportunities for inmates to positively program. In addition, these incentives will improve inmate behavior and reduce violence in prisons, making conditions safer for inmates and department staff.”
“CDCR decided to parole Gonzalo after serving only two years of this sentence over the objection of the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office,” Pacioni wrote.
Federal immigration agents deported Echeverria to El Salvador immediately after state prison officials let him out.
But Echeverria slipped back into the United States sometime before the Feb. 5 double homicide.
“I think it highly unlikely he could have made it back to the US to commit these murders on February 5, if not for policy decisions by CDCR and the executive branch in Sacramento,” Pacioni wrote.
Gonzalo Echeverria and his cousin, Jose Echeverria, were booked into the Monterey County Jail on homicide and weapons charges.
The cousins will be arraigned on Feb. 22 to enter pleas.
The Monterey County District Attorney joined dozens of district attorneys across California in filing a lawsuit against the CDCR, claiming the current prison system fails to protect public safety.