Five homicide suspects charged since start of Monterey County Cold Case Task Force
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) Monterey County District Attorney's Office said it has formally charged 5 suspects with murder in the first year since creating its Cold Case Task Force.
The task force created in July 2020 by the Monterey County District Attorney is an inter-agency group intended to help law enforcement investigate, resolve and prosecute unsolved homicide cases. The DA's Office said the task force includes veteran investigators and a deputy district attorney who work with the original investigating agency to review the cases, create investigative strategies, interview witnesses, do research and facilitate submission or re-submission of items for DNA or other types of testing.
So far, the task force has worked with eight local law enforcement agencies on one or more unsolved cases. In total, the task force has reviewed more than 30 cases spanning from 1974 to 2018 since it began.
The DA's Office has filed murder charges for the following cases since the task force began:
- October 1981 murder of 30-year-old Sonia Herok-Stone in Carmel
- Septemer 1995 murder of 22-year-old Lloyd "LJ" Perkins Jr. in Seaside
- November 1999 murder of 39-year-old Elias Gutierrez Diaz in Salinas
- June 2016 murder of 20-year-old Martin Heredia in King City
- March 2017 murder of 31-year-old Hipolito Cruz Carreno Carreno in King City
The DA's Office said Herok-Stone was a mother found dead in her home, Perkins was ambushed and shot, Gutierrez Diaz was a father and local business owner who was shot, Heredia was shot when he was mistaken for a gang member and Cruz Carreno was killed in front of his wife and children.
The DA's Office reminds community members that all of the suspects charged are considered innocent until proven guilty. Court proceedings for all of the cases listed are still pending.
