Man & girlfriend arrested for two Salinas homicides
UPDATE: 6/8/2018 1:52 p.m. Salinas Police have arrested a man and his girlfriend in connection to two homicides in the city this week.
19-year-old Santos Longoria Fonseca was arrested for the June 2 murder of Lorenso Gomez Acosta on Klamath Drive and the June 5 murder of Ernesto Garcia Cruz at El Dorado Park.
Witnesses told detectives they saw Fonseca running from the park with his hand in his pocket as if he was holding a gun after the shooting took place.
Investigators learned Fonseca may have lived at home on the 1600 block of Siskiyou. Detectives, the Violence Supression Unit and law enforcement partners conducted a surveillance operation over the next 24 hours while gathering additional evidence.
“Further investigation led to evidence indicating Fonseca was also responsible for the murder of Lorenso Gomez Acosta three days earlier on June 2, 2018,” said Commander John Murray.
On June 6, detectives and VSU officers spotted Fonseca driving with two other passengers. VSU pulled Fonseca over and arrested him for the murders and an outstanding felony warrant for attempted robbery. A 9mm semi-automatic handgun, believed to be the murder weapon was found in Fonseca’s girlfriends purse.
Fonseca’s girlfriend, 18-year-old Alekzandra Romayor was also arrested for one count of murder for the murder of Cruz at El Dorado Park, one count of accessory to murder for the murder of Lorenso Acosta and possession of a firearm found during the stop.
A third 17-year-old girl was detained and later released to her mother.
During a search of Fonseca’s home a Glock semi-automatic handgun, ammunition, and other items of evidence were found.
The investigation is ongoing and detectives are seeking additional witnesses or information on the murder of Ernesto Cruz and the murder of Lorenso Acosta.
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Salinas Police are investigating a homicide at El Dorado Park.
The department said ShotSpotter was activated around 8 p.m. Tuesday. Officers arrived and found 27-year-old Ernesto Garcia Cruz suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Cruz died at the scene.
SPD said Cruz was outside a car parked in the lot when a man approached him.
“It is unknown if any words were spoken between the two, but the suspect pulled out a handgun and shot the victim several times. Several people were seen running from the area, so it is unclear which way the suspect fled the scene,” said Investigations Sergeant, Christopher Lane.
Police said Cruz does not appear to be associated with any gangs and the motive for the shooting is unknown.
Detectives are investigating a homicide that occurred in the area of Klamath Drive and Cascade Way on June 2, but said it’s too early to tell if these two shootings are related.
Anyone with information about this shooting or the homicide from Saturday should call 831-758-7226.
