Man guilty in killing of pastor

A man who allegedly has gang ties was convicted of shooting a youth pastor to death in Pomona and sentenced to 34 years and four months in prison, prosecutors said.

Arvin Benson, 29, on Tuesday pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and two counts of attempted murder while using a gun in the Nov. 11, 2013, killing of Daniel Diaz, 33.

Pomona police said that on that night, Benson killed Diaz because he was Latino. Benson is black.

About 12:45 a.m., an armed man walked up to a car in which Diaz and three other people were sitting, according to the Pomona Police Department. The people in the car had just dropped off a friend when the man began shooting.

Diaz was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to coroner’s records.

Diaz was a youth minister at New Beginning Community Ministries in Baldwin Park. His parents founded the church.

The killing came one day after hundreds of people gathered in the football stands of Ganesha High School in Pomona to pray for an end to violence in the city.

Friends and family members said Diaz also was mentoring at-risk youth.

“He thought it was very important to reach out to them. Those are the ones you have to reach first, to get them at a young age,” said Lynna Moreno, a member at New Beginning. “He knew how to talk to them. Youths were drawn to him. Even though they were a little rebellious, sooner or later, it sunk in to them.”