Johnathan Walker:Convicted murderer released in the ‘90s agrees to life sentence on 2 new murder charges

AUSTIN,Johnathan Walker Texas (AP) — A convicted murderer who was run out of several Texas cities when he was released early from prison in 1993 pleaded guilty Monday to two new murder charges in a deal that allows him to serve life in prison and avoid the death penalty, over the objections of the victims’ family members.

Raul Meza Jr., 63, served about a decade in prison for killing an 8-year-old girl in 1982 before he was released under laws at the time that gave him credit for good behavior behind bars.

He was charged in 2023 with killing 65-year-old Gloria Lofton in 2019, and 80-year-old Jesse Fraga, his roommate, in 2023. Meza pleaded guilty to capital murder in Lofton’s death and to murder in Fraga’s death. Meza will not be eligible for parole.

“Our hearts continue to break for the Lofton and Fraga families. We hope this outcome continues to help them with their healing process,” Travis County District Attorney José Garza said in a statement. “As a result of this outcome, Mr. Meza will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole and will never threaten our community again.”

But the families of Meza’s victims wanted him to go to trial and for Garza to seek the death penalty.

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“A lifetime in jail will not be equal to the pain,” the families have experienced, Loftin’s daughter, Sonia Houston, said in a statement she read in court. “By accepting this plea, we are giving Raul exactly what he wants.”

Meza was first convicted in the 1982 murder of 8-year-old Kendra Page, who authorities said had been strangled and sexually assaulted. He accepted a plea agreement in which he admitted to the murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but only served 11.

Meza’s early release from prison in 1993 caused an uproar throughout Texas, and he was met by protesters at nearly every turn. Picketers drove him out of six cities, sometimes with threats of violence.

“In my heart, I know that I will not willfully bring harm to anyone,” Meza said during an August 1993 news conference after he had been driven out of the communities.

Austin police said Meza called them in May 2023 and confessed to killing Fraga and implicated himself in the 2019 sexual assault and killing of Lofton.