Neighbors pitch in for victim’s family

Friends and neighbors of a couple who lost their son Wednesday to a drive-by shooting will hold a carwash fundraiser today to help the family with funeral expenses.

The carwash will be held from 8 a.m. to noon at the Ferrari and Maserati of Orange County dealer at 1425 Baker Street.

Agustina Mendoza and Martin Rodriguez lost their 23-year-old son Israel Maciel shortly after 8 p.m. when he and four others were shot in an alley behind his apartment complex in the 1300 block of West Baker Street.

The four other male victims were still recuperating Friday from gunshot wounds not considered life threatening.

Aside from friends and neighbors who stopped by Friday to extend their condolences, the couple received a visit from City Councilwoman Katrina Foley and Assistant City Manager Thomas Hatch.

As they entered the couple’s small neat apartment, Foley and Hatch carried a salad, a lasagna dish, two six packs of soda, and a bouquet of yellow flowers.

Foley also handed them a $50 gift card from Stater Brothers, Mendoza said.

“I’ve never met her before, but she seemed like a nice person,” Mendoza said.

The mother is obviously still grieving, Foley said.

“I just wanted them to know that the city felt bad for their loss,” Foley said. “I wanted them to know that the police is working hard to find the killer.”

Two Costa Mesa police detectives also paid a visit, Rodriguez said. The detectives told the couple that they had been working on solving the homicide since it happened, Rodriguez said.

Kathy Ceja, a family friend, said she and her sister Maria Mendez were driving around Friday afternoon trying to find a site to hold the carwash.

They finally decided to ask the car dealer near the apartments where their friend had died.

Ceja said it was the only business that said yes on a short notice.

Saad Jarrah, the general manager of the car dealer, said he heard about Maciel’s death on the radio.

The Ferrari and Maserati dealer at the corner of Baker Street and College Avenue is close to the crime scene, and, Jarrah said, is part of the community.

He said the decision to allow Ceja to hold the fundraiser on the car dealer’s site was made by the owner, William Story of Newport Beach, who was out of town Friday.

“He wants to help. It’s just in the spirit of giving,” Jarrah said. “To us, it’s not a big deal. It’s nice to know that we could help in a way that will benefit this young man’s family. We really don’t know the details [of the killing], but that doesn’t matter; a young man lost his life there.”

Ceja, who has known Maciel and his parents for about eight years, said she would do anything for them.

“It’s just a tragedy that it happened because they are so kindhearted,” said Ceja, an instrument technician at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

Judy Molina, a neighbor of Mendoza and Rodriguez, said she would also do what she could to help them with burial expenses. Molina said she plans to sell hot dogs and hamburgers at the carwash fund-raiser.

Molina said her brother Richie Molina held Maciel before he died. On Friday, Richie was given a sleeping pill. Molina said he had not slept since the shooting.

Rodriguez said he was told he would be getting his son’s body from the coroner on Monday. The family wants to have a viewing and a wake in their home next week. The couple said they are still working out the details.