Salinas mother honors son lost to gun violence during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

Six-year-old Azahel Cruz was in his Spider-Man pajamas, tossing out his ice cream bar stick in the trash can outside when he was shot in a drive-by shooting by a gang member in Salinas. His mother, Maria Alcantar, found him on the floor, according to news reports. It was March 23, 2010. 

Tomorrow, Alcantar will share her family’s story, speaking at the Monterey County Courthouse courtyard in honor of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. This week, through April 12, crime victims, survivors, and those who serve them will come together across the United States to promote victims’ rights and services and to educate communities about the devastating impact crime has on victims, neighborhoods, schools and the country.

In 2024 alone, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office Victims of Crime Unit served over 3,659 new crime victims and provided more than 31,214 mandated services. Every crime is different and requires special care, as well as specific and skilled services. Since 1978, the Victims of Crime Unit has worked with victims to uphold their rights, assist them with the court process, and help them access compensation programs so they can better cope with the aftermath of crime.

The unit also provides services ranging from crisis intervention and elder abuse support to counseling, interpreter services and more. Program services are offered free of charge, with no legal citizenship requirement to receive assistance.

Tomorrow’s ceremony will invite survivors to announce the names of their loved ones lost to homicide, accompanied by the release of doves in memory of all victims of crime.

The “Connecting, Kinship, and Healing” commemoration is at noon on Friday, April 11 at the Monterey County Courthouse courtyard, located at 142 W. Alisal St., Salinas.

To locate services provided by the Monterey District Attorney’s Office Victims of Crime Unit, visit countyofmonterey.gov/government/departments-a-h/district-attorney.