A year later, girl's death spurs work to stop gangs

For the most part, the house still looks the same.

A chain-link fence surrounds the property on the corner of 800 West and Fremont Avenue. A tricycle sits within the fenced yard, a sign that children still go outside to play.

Near the far corner of the front yard, however, on a fence separating the property from the sidewalk, is a makeshift memorial that has been there for almost a year.

The memorial isn't as big as it was during its peak. But there are small bouquets of flowers in the shape of crosses; rosary beads; and two small, weathered teddy bears that appear to have been placed on the spot ever since the tragic event that shook this house, the neighborhood and the entire community on July 6, 2008.

It's been almost one year since 7-year-old Maria Del Carmen Menchaca was struck by a stray bullet and killed in a drive-by shooting while playing in her front yard.

The shooting was the result of an ongoing conflict between rival gang members, one of whom reportedly lived in the little girl's house and whom police believe was the intended target.

That incident, combined with the slaying of Wally Knapton, manager of the Family Dollar Store, two months earlier, sparked an outcry among city and community leaders calling for something to be done about Salt Lake City's gang problem.

A year later, officials say the foundation for change has been laid and efforts are moving in the right direction. It will just take a little more time before the full effect of those changes is seen, officials say.

Following the tragic Menchaca shooting in 2008, Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker called together law-enforcement and community leaders to discuss what could be done to solve the problem. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. organized a new gang task force that included law enforcers, lawmakers, attorneys, judges, and other state and local leaders.

In May, the Salt Lake Police Department announced it was changing the way it classified gang-related crimes. Crimes that involve a gang member, regardless of whether that crime was commissioned on behalf of a gang, and regardless of whether the gang member was a perpetrator or victim, will now be counted as a gang-related crime. The goal is to get a more accurate picture of what gang members are doing in the community and where officials can best focus their resources to help.