PATHOSPHOTO | Conner Jay

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Salinas police officers and investigators mark evidence around the body of Francisco Hereida, 20, who shot and killed in the parking lot of an apartment complex Tuesday night along the 500 block of John Street night in Salinas. Hereida is the cities ninth homicide of the year and was one of four gang related shooting victims in the last five days in Monterey County.
   
EMTs try to save the life of a 17-year-old Frank Sanchez was fatally shot to the head Wednesday night along Capitol Street in Salinas. Sanchez’s death was the first incident in a spike of recent violence in Salinas, including five shooting and three other murders this week.
   
CHP Sgt. Ray Faulk carries a four-year-old girl away from the scene of a crash Monday along Alisal Road. The girl's family was traveling in a blue Ford Explorer when they collided with a black Volkswagen Jetta according to California Highway Patrol officials. The young girl was protected by a child seat in the and was unharmed in the accident.
     
  
A police officer exits the crime scene under the red light of an apartment complex between Rider Avenue and Alamo Way where Everett Alvarez High School freshman Erik Lopez was shot and killed Thursday night in Salinas.
  
Charles Padgett looks over his home where someone recently broke in and robbed him January 11 in Salinas. Padgett is homeless and has recently been occupying an abandoned shipping container. "They took everything," said Padgett, as he shifted through his ransacked belongings.
  
Firefighters try to contain a large fire that broke out in a building storing Martinelli's apple juice Wednesday in Watsonville. Authorities alerted Watsonville residents of a possible ammonia leak at the burning Apple Growers Ice and Cold Storage building, and cautioned the community of being exposed to any smoke.
     
  
Jose Cruz stands by the coffin of his 6-year-old son, Azahel Cruz, before a funeral mass Friday at St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Salinas. Azahel Cruz was shot and killed by a stray bullet at his home along Laurel Drive last Tuesday.
  
Flora Cristobal holds a picture of her 15-year-old son Rodolfo Cristobal during a peace rally Sunday in Salinas. Rodolfo was shot and killed in a gang related shooting last October 14 on Archer Street in Salinas
   
Overcome with emotion, Gladys Rodriguez’s begins to cry while describing her statue of the Virgin Mary that was stolen from its alter outside her Union City home. Members of Rodriguez’s community often used her alter as a place to pray and leave flowers and candles to the Virgin Mary, standing as a symbol of hope for some. The statue came as a gift from her son, who used the figure as an inspirational symbol to help battle his addiction to drugs.
     
  
A sheriff participating in the SAFE Sweep parole check arrests a parolee for violating the terms of his parole Wednesday in Salinas. The SAFE Sweep went throughout Monterey County to check the parole of registered sex offenders, searching their homes and vehicles. This parolee was found with a crowbar and a knife that were classified as weapons because he had a prior conviction for using a crowbar to sexually assault a woman.
  
Jersey City police officers detain a distressed Irene Williams outside the scene of a shooting where three teenagers were shot at Triangle Park in Jersey City. Williams would not calm down and was trying to walk onto an active crime scene because she was afraid her niece was one of the victims. Police on the scene sent Williams to Jersey City Medical Center where she was later released.
   
A deputy with the sheriff's department searches a house along Esperanza Circle after 35-year-old Juan Palo Lopez Ruiz of Watsonville was shot and killed and another man seriously injured during an incident Sunday night at Vista de Tierra Circle in Castroville.