SALINAS, Calif. — On Tuesday, the Salinas Police Department investigated a stabbing that occurred at Clay Street and Cayuga Street.
The victim, 26-year-old Mariana Jurado, who was pregnant, was leaving her home heading to work when she was attacked outside her home and stabbed by 43-year-old Garrett Scheff. Jurado did not know Scheff, and by all accounts the crime was a random act of violence.
Jurado was taken to a local hospital by ambulance; however, she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased a short time later. The unborn child also died.
Scheff was captured and arrested a block from the scene.
“This is a senseless, violent crime. Mariana did not know him at all,” Salinas Police Commander John Murray said.
“Her screams were honestly something unexplainable,” a neighbor told KSBW.
“I can tell you this, she was very brave,” Murray said. “She was communicating with officers while medical personnel were taking care of her. She was telling us what happened. She provided us a description of Scheff.”
The victim’s husband released this statement: “Mariana was a very brave person and fearless. She was a fighter, that’s for sure. This criminal shouldn’t be out in the first place. Knowing his background and because of this, we as the Jurado family are suffering, because our legal system is a joke and doesn’t take ‘mentally ill cases seriously’.”
Scheff has been arrested more than a dozen times since 1995, the station reported.
The case is being investigated as a homicide. Scheff was booked into Monterey County Jail on two counts count of murder.
