Saying goodbye

Friends, family and neighbors of a 23-year-old man killed in a drive-by shooting filled more than half of the benches at St. Joachim Catholic Church on Friday during a morning memorial service.

Many of them, like Nester Contreras, wore black T-shirts bearing Israel Maciel’s image and “In loving memory of Israel Maciel, Jan. 22, 1983 to Aug. 2, 2006” on the front. The letters “IM VOV” were printed on the back of the T-shirts.

“That stands for Israel Maciel, a victim of violence,” said Contreras, Maciel’s cousin, who helped carry the dark blue coffin out of the church to the hearse that carried it to Harbor Lawn-Mt. Olive Memorial Park in Costa Mesa.

On Aug. 2 about 8:15 p.m., Maciel was hanging out with friends when he was shot and killed at his apartment complex in the 1300 block of West Baker Street. Four others were injured in the drive-by shooting.

Costa Mesa’s interim police chief, Steven Staveley, said Friday that investigators are working very hard on the case.

“We are making progress,” Staveley said. “This will remain a high priority for the organization. In my nearly 40 years, I have rarely seen better investigators.”

On Thursday, Maciel’s parents, Agustina Mendoza and Martin Rodriguez, held a wake in the small, neat apartment they shared with Maciel and their other sons, Michael, 15, and Chris, 10.

People who came to extend their condolences poured out of the apartment onto the sidewalk. Inside the apartment, Maciel lay in an open casket.

He was dressed in his favorite black Ralph Lauren jacket. He wore a black baseball cap that covered gunshot wounds, said Maciel’s cousin Bernice Torres.

“He always liked the best clothes,” Torres said.

“He put everybody ahead of himself. His parents came first,” Torres added.

The mood was somber among adults and young people. Their conversation included shock over Maciel’s death and questions of who would want to kill him and injure the other four victims.

Contreras, who grew up with Maciel, said the number of people who turned out to remember his cousin is proof that he was well liked.

“The victims of the shooting have physical scars, but the community will have emotional scars for a long time,” Contreras said.