Raul Meza: Suspected serial killer's victims' families upset about plea deal, want trial
AUSTIN, Texas - A suspected serial killer is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison, according to the family of one of the victims.
Raul Meza Jr. is scheduled to accept a plea deal in court on Monday, but the victim’s family is against it, saying they want the case to go to trial.
"It's this club that nobody wants to be a part of," Gloria Lofton’s daughter Christina Fultz said.
The club being the family of a suspected serial killer’s victim.
"It's not just our mom, it’s this person, this person, this person, this person.
Meza is accused of killing Gloria Lofton in 2019, killing Jesse Fraga in 2023 and robbing and shooting Derly Ramirez on New Year’s Eve in 1975.
Meza was convicted of the murder of 8-year-old Kendra Page who was found dead in a dumpster at a Southeast Austin Elementary School in 1982. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but was released after serving just over 11 years.
"If he served his full term, our mom would still be here to this day, Mr. Fraga would still be here to this day," Gloria Lofton’s daughter Sonia Houston said.
Meza is now behind bars after confessing to the murder of Fraga and implicating himself in the murder of Lofton. He’s charged with capital murder.
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"This is someone that took multiple lives through multiple decades," Fultz said.
Lofton’s daughters said they want justice.
"He needs to face the community," Fultz said.
"We want to go to trial," Houston said.
But apparently that is not going to happen.
"When we went in to even discuss the idea of possibly accepting said plea deal, it was more of a, hey, we're doing you a courtesy by letting you know. This is what it was. It's going to be life without parole and life. You know, you kind of wrap your heads around that," Houston said.
"We were told, not asked," Fultz said.
On September 14, Gloria Lofton’s family emailed the Travis County District Attorney saying they did not want to accept any settlement offer and demanded to take the case to a jury trial and fight for the death penalty.
"The death penalty would be what is necessary and, at that point, I do feel like justice would be served, because a person who is taken away from so many different people would no longer be here. But, they're not even affording us that option or that opportunity," Houston said.
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About 10 days later, the District Attorney responded to the email and said:
"Thank you for taking the time to speak with Raquel yesterday. I am so sorry for everything the families have been through—I can’t imagine how difficult this has been for all of you.
As we discussed when you, Christina, and Cory were in our office about two weeks ago, the defendant is willing to plead guilty to both murders.
Mr. Meza will receive two life sentences. One of the life sentences does not have the possibility of parole, which means that Mr. Meza will die in prison. He will not have the opportunity to be considered for release at any point before his death. In our previous conversations, several family members have communicated that this is the outcome they seek.
Mr. Meza is also waiving his right to appeal. This means that, unlike a trial or a trial resulting in a death sentence, Mr. Meza will not be given the opportunity to challenge his conviction or sentence. The waiver of appeal means that a judge will not be reviewing the case to determine if Meza is entitled to a new trial on one or both of the sentences.
I want to reiterate what I told you when we met most recently. It is my responsibility to make sure that Mr. Meza can never get out and threaten our community again. This plea will accomplish that."
"Well, let's just go ahead and settle out, and he'll be behind bars forever. Yeah, but my tax dollars are paying for him to eat. Your tax dollars are paying for him to be able to flush that toilet. Nah, that doesn't sit right with me at all," Houston said.
"We want answers to a full actual, ethically, morally, completely genuine done case, completely open and closed, let's do it right," Fultz said.
Meza is expected to accept the deal on Monday.
"It just seems like they're trying to just put a nice ribbon on everything and say, hey, we caught a big fish and be done with it," Houston said.
The judge will have to accept the deal, too. Lofton’s daughters are hoping she hears their pleas and decides not to.
"To us, why not actually follow through and do the proper investigation? Go ahead and go to trial and let the masses know what's really happening here, what's really happened. But again, I guess it's more important just to keep them behind bars and keep everything in the dark and shut and hey, we did our job," Houston said.
"Now that we're at the end, they want to rush it. They want to say, we got to go. This is it. No, we have questions still," Fultz said.
They said they hope to learn more about their mother’s death and the investigation when they go over the evidence in the case on October 11, after the deal is done.
"Everything needs to come out," Fultz said.
Houston and Fultz are preparing victim impact statements directed towards Meza just in case they are in fact needed on Monday.
"The words I am using, I hope, hit so hard and I'm sure he's not going to like it," Fultz said.
"There has to be something in there where he has some type of human aspect and whatever that is, I want it to be ripped to shreds," Houston said.
They said whatever ends up happening on Monday, this will not be over.