Remembering Jesus Arias Villa, man gunned down in car in Salinas

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV)- Salinas Police have identified two people that were gunned down in their vehicle Saturday night on the 300 block of Towt St. across from Closter Park.

Jesus Arias Villa, 22, and Karina Chavez Vargas, 23, were sitting in their parked vehicle when two subjects approached the car on foot and fired multiple shots at the victims.

Friends of the victims say that Vargas and Villa were a couple and had been together for three years.

KION spoke with Alma Villa (Jesus' mother), a single mother with another son living in Texas, who said her son was a smart, compassionate young man loved by everyone in the community.

Related: Two killed in shooting in Salinas identified

He had slight autism and Alma remembers having to take him to special needs classes but Jesus fought back saying he wanted to work past his mental hurdles.

"He was a fighter. He said, 'I am a normal kid. I don't want to ride any special type of bus'," Alma Villa said about her son. "From the age of seven, he was a passionate boxer. He loved going to the gym and liked being fit and would always remind me to drink plenty of water. He was an innocent young man that always thought about others."

Their apartment doesn't allow pets but an exception was made to help Jesus better destress because of his learning disabilities.

Alma said she has no idea why anyone would try and hurt her son. She called the attack senseless and she's looking for justice in her son and his girlfriend's murder.

"He found his girlfriend, they fell in love and within a month of their relationship he got COVID and he told me 'If I die, give all my money to Karina.' Unfortunately, they passed together," Alma Villa said. "The young lady was a really good person. I didn't know her parents until this happened. We were forced to know each other. They had been dating for three years. They loved each other very much."

Jesus worked at a retirement home and was a professional boxer with a record of 1-0, according to Jesus' best friend Gorge Maravillo.

"When I first went to the boxing gym he was probably one of the most advanced boxers," Maravillo said. "I just remember being a kid wanting to be like him. I was 13 and he was 14 and we've just been friends ever since, going to the gym and boxing together."

Jesus was gunned down around the corner from his mother's home after she said he was going to drop off his girlfriend at her house.

"He went to go take his girlfriend home and that's when I heard the gunshots at 8 at night," Alma Villa said. "My son died inside the car. Both of them. It's a pain... I don't know... I can't. I try to control myself but I know the worse of it is yet to come. He was my son. He was a good boy and never spoke back to me. He was loved by everyone."

The suspects fled eastbound on Grandhaven St. in a light-colored sedan.

There is no known motive at this time for the murders of Villa and Vargas.

Salinas Police ask anyone with information to please come forward.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help pay for funeral arrangements and you can donate here.