SALINAS, Calif.- Maria Viorato still lives in the same neighborhood where her son was gunned down eight years ago. She walks the same streets with her granddaughters now. "They gave me his diploma. He was about to turn 18 years old. He was killed in April and his birthday was in July," said Maria.
Maria said her son was a straight A student and was adored by his friends. When he was killed police told Maria her son was at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Doesn't that sound familiar? Fast forward, to Wednesday night, where 25 year old Jonathan Hernandez coming home from church with his bible in his hand, was shot and killed just streets away.
Community and church leaders met at the Hebbron Heights Family Center and spoke out to the community saying if you want to drive out violence from Hebbron Heights it has to start at home. "I think one of the solutions to this problem is, I'm inviting the parents, Mom and Dad, we need to look in our households and find out who do we have in our homes?" said Salinas Council member Tony Barrera.
But for parents like Maria, who have suffered a loss, its simply not that easy. "I'm not saying I'm a saint, but in my house we go to church and we help people. From work to home. My kids are good kids, and this still happened to us," said Maria.
Maria still doesn't know what happened to her son, and is angry with police. But police say it's a two way street. And without your help there's only so much they can do. "They're very hard to investigate because of the lack of cooperation that we normally get. Gang members usually want to take care of things by themselves within their gang," said Salinas PD Sergeant Chris Lane.
But people like Maria who is now raising her two young granddaughters, and doesn't claim any colors, she wonders if they'll ever be safe.
