Servando Ayala
SALINAS — On Tuesday evening at 7:50, the SPD arrived at the 1500 block of Verona Court to respond to a stabbing call.
68-year-old Herbert Valero, pastor of Victory Outreach Center, met one of his parishioners at there and announced that he was going outside to pray for him.
Herbert Valero
He soon returned inside with a knife wound to his neck and stated that 37-year-old Servando Ayala had stabbed him. Servando fled, and arriving medical personnel could not save Valero, who subsequently died.
At 9:45, a family member of the suspect called police, informing them that the suspect was at their front door. Servando was shortly thereafter arrested and booked for homicide.
On the Victory Outreach Center’s webpage, Pastor Valero stated, “God sent me here to Salinas to establish Victory Outreach Salinas Church as a place where outcast and marginalized people can feel welcome.”
It was likely in service of such a vision that Pastor Valero lost his life.
