Pedro “Pete” Arias
Portrait of Pedro Arias
Pedro Arias—or, as his friends called him, Pete—was born in 1963. He grew up with his mother, Adeline Rodriguez, and a few siblings. His home environment, however, was not conducive to a safe and healthy childhood, and those familiar with Pete’s upbringing describe it as harsh and troublesome.
Pete was incarcerated at San Quentin Prison in California and survived 30 years on Death Row. He remained close with Delores Garcia, a friend since childhood, who had a daughter of her own; at the time of Pete’s incarceration, he and Delores were planning to get married. Delores recalls how Pete sent her daughter letters from jail. At the time, Delores’s mother, Marie Alvarado, echoed these sentiments, testifying that Pete “had always been respectful to her, always called her ‘mom,’” expressed remorse for his actions, and “wrote to her from jail when she was in the hospital with pneumonia.”
In May 2020, Pete wrote a letter to the Prison University Project, the college program at San Quentin, thanking them for their distribution of gift bags to all of the nearly 3,900 people incarcerated at San Quentin. In a heart-wrenching manner, Pete reflected on the erosion of family and connections behind bars:
“When I was first arrested I was 24 about to turn 25. I am now 57 and in August will turn 58. I’ve been incarcerated on this case since June 5, 1987. And arrived here on the Row March 5, 1990. A long time indeed. And over the years from time to time old friends & family members have had a tendency to sort’ve forget you’re still around. It’s the old case of out of sight, out of mind. It goes with the territory when you’ve been locked up as long as I have. But its understandable. And I take it in stride. Now, I am at the point in my life / confinement where I am beginning to lose many family members and old friends. Mostly by old age and disease. My point is its getting much harder to find an old friend or family member who is still alive and around to remember you. You know, to just drop you a line or send you a Christmas card. The little things.”
Only three months after he wrote this letter, on August 9, 2020, Pete succumbed to the coronavirus and passed away at an outside hospital. He was barely 58 years old.
The outbreak of COVID-19 behind bars has been horrendous across the country, but its spread inside San Quentin is unique in its magnitude and devastation. At the time when Pete lost his life, the prison was the center of what was the largest coronavirus outbreak in the whole country up to that point. The outbreak was not spontaneous or unpreventable, however; it was carelessly manufactured by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which moved men from a COVID-laden prison in Chino to San Quentin, until then virus-free.
The irresponsible and deplorable actions of governmental and criminal justice officials during this pandemic has caused hundreds—now into the thousands—of incarcerated men and women around the country to lose their lives. Pedro was among them. We mourn the lives of those lost and demand that our officials understand and prioritize the humanity and lives of those behind bars.
This memorial was written by MOL team member Frances Keohane with information from reporting by Daniel Hunt of The Sacramento Bee, a letter from Pedro Arias published by Mount Tamalpais College, information from Pete’s court transcripts, and a press release by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Original artwork by MOL team member EJ Joyner.
