AUSTIN, Texas— A convicted murderer who was kicked out of many Texas cities after being released early from prison in 1993 pleaded guilty Monday to two additional murder counts in a bargain that allows him to serve life in prison and avoid the death sentence, over the protests of the victims’ families.
Raul Meza Jr., 63, spent nearly a decade in prison for killing an 8-year-old girl in 1982 before being released under legislation at the time that credited him for good behavior behind bars.
In 2023, he was charged with killing his roommate, 80-year-old Jesse Fraga, and 65-year-old Gloria Lofton in 2019. Meza pleaded guilty to capital murder for Lofton’s death and murder for Fraga’s death. Meza won’t be eligible for parole.
“Our hearts continue to break for the Lofton and Fraga families.” “We hope that this outcome continues to assist them in 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.”
However, the relatives of Meza’s victims wanted him to stand trial and for Garza to pursue the death sentence.
“A lifetime in jail will not be equal to the pain,” Loftin’s daughter, Sonia Houston, said in a statement read in court. “By accepting this plea, we are giving Raul exactly what he wants.”
Meza was initially convicted in the 1982 murder of 8-year-old Kendra Page, who officials claimed was strangled and sexually raped. He accepted a plea deal in which he acknowledged the murder and was sentenced to 30 years in jail, but he only spent 11.
Meza’s early release from prison in 1993 sparked outrage across Texas, and he was greeted by demonstrators at almost every turn. Picketers forced him out of six cities, often with threats of violence.
“In my heart, I know that I will not willfully bring harm to anyone,” Meza remarked during a news conference in August 1993, after being pushed out of the communities.
According to Austin police, Meza called them in May 2023 and confessed to killing Fraga while also implicating himself in Lofton’s sexual assault and death in 2019.
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