KING CITY — Raul Lucas of Salinas has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder while personally using a firearm for the benefit of the Sureno criminal street gang.
On Dec. 26, 2021, 21-year-old Lucas and three other Sureno gang members met up in King City and drove to Sussex Way, where they shot and killed Carlos Lopez, 20, and his girlfriend Salina Godoy, 18, who was 10 to 12 weeks pregnant, as they tried to exit their vehicle.
According to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, local street cameras captured the license plate of a vehicle believed to be involved in the murders.
“A search warrant was served at the residence associated with that vehicle where police located a firearm used in the murders,” the DA’s Office said in a news release Wednesday. “That murder weapon was collected by detectives and found to contain Lucas’ DNA.”
On Aug. 3, Monterey County Judge Stephanie Hulsey accepted Lucas’ guilty plea to the murders and will preside over the sentencing on Aug. 31. He will receive 58 years to life in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations for the two murders.
The case was investigated by King City Police Detective Juan Rodriguez and Sgts. Joshue Partida and John Dow, with the assistance of the Salinas Police Department and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.
