Salinas Police identify the city’s 23rd homicide victim

UPDATE: 10/16/2017 3:12 p.m. Salinas Police have identified a man found dead in the 100 block of Orchard Avenue as 37-year-old Francisco Aguilar..

Salinas PD said Aguilar suffered blunt force trauma to his head on September 6. The department was not able to locate the victims family. Aguilar was in his 20’s and originally from Mexico so police said he may or may not have family in the area.

Anyone with information regarding the homicide or information of Aguilar’s family is asked to contact Detective Barboza at 831-758-7145.

PREVIOUS STORY: 9/7/2017 5:40 p.m.:

Salinas Police are investigating the city’s 23rd homicide of 2017.

On Wednesday night, the body of a Hispanic man in his 20’s was found in a garage on the 100-block of Orchard Avenue. A woman wanting to park her car in the driveway made the grisly discovery. Police say it appears the victim was killed by blunt force trauma. Police are still working to find out his identity.

Police don’t know who the victim is or why he was at that house.

“We have no suspect information whatsoever,” said Salinas Police Commander Stan Cooper. “We literally have a deceased person inside of a residence with very little, even crime scene.”

Making the investigation even more bizarre, the house is for sale. With the exception of crews working to fix it up, it should’ve been vacant. Investigators are now working with the realtor to find out why he was there. They say there’s no clear motive.

“At this time we have nothing to say that it is, likewise I guess we don’t have anything to say it’s not as well,” Cooper said. “But don’t want to put a gang tag on it without having something to lead us in that direction. At this point it could be really any number of things and so we don’t want to label it too soon.”

They’re also trying to find out what may have led up to this death. Police say earlier in the day there was a report of a disturbance in the same area. Neighbors told KION they heard people arguing. At this point, police do not believe the two incidents are connected.

“Another male was seen bleeding but it’s not believed to be the same person,” Cooper said. “Basically the condition of the victim that was found, we’re pretty certain he was not the same person who was seen outside beforehand.”

Neighbors like Cathy Silvestre say Orchard Avenue has been a hotspot for violence over the last several years. There have been a number of shootings and stabbings in the area.

“For a while it’s been calm because we had a neighbor that was gang-related, so we had a lot of shootings but now it’s been calm,” Silvestre said. “So this has been the first one in a while.”

While this is the 23rd homicide in Salinas this year, at this point last year, there were 28 homicides.

ORIGINAL POST:

The Salinas Police Department is investigating the city’s 23rd homicide of the year.

According to SPD, on Wednesday, around 7:23 p.m. officers responded to the 100 block of Orchard Avenue for a report of a person bleeding from the head. Officers found a Hispanic male suffering blunt force trauma to his head.

The victim died at the scene. Police said there had been a disturbance in the area earlier but don’t have any more information on that.

“The victim’s name is being withheld until proper notifications are made. This crime is not being investigated as gang related at this time,” said Spencer Critchley with Salinas Police.

KION’s Mariana Hicks will have new details from police at 5 and 6 p.m.