AUSTIN, Texas — The attorneys for accused serial killer Raul Meza Jr. are asking for a plea deal.
Meza appeared in court Thursday morning for a pretrial hearing, where it was revealed his attorneys have requested a plea deal for him to serve 50 years in prison for the deaths of Gloria Lofton and Jesse Fraga.
Meza is accused of killing 65-year-old Lofton in 2019 and 80-year-old Fraga in 2023.
His defense attorney, Russ Hunt Jr., said Meza, "would like to avoid the necessity of dragging all the facts of that out into the open and talking about that and putting himself and the families through all the stress of trial."
Background on this case
Meza was arrested in May 2023 in connection with the murder of Fraga in Pflugerville and in connection with Lofton's death in Austin in 2019.
In August 2023, a Travis County grand jury indicted Meza for one count of capital murder and another count of murder in connection with Lofton's death, plus an indictment for murder and another for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in connection with Fraga's death.
Meza was previously convicted of the murder of 8-year-old Kendra Page in 1982. Authorities have said he could be linked to up to 10 cold cases.
For Tracy Page, the sister of Kendra Page, a plea bargain is not enough.
"Just go straight to the death penalty. He deserves it. There's still 10, maybe even more cold cases out there that they're working on to connect him to. And it's just so upsetting that more and more keeps coming out," Tracy Page said.
Criminal defense attorney Marc Chavez said the proposed plea deal is strategic on the defense's part when it comes to parole eligibility. In the state of Texas, a defendant must generally serve half of their sentence to be eligible for parole.
"When it comes to parole eligibility, he would be eligible in 25 rather than the 30 years of the 60-year sentence," Chavez said.
Former prosecutor Leslie Booker believes the state could turn down the proposed plea deal.
"I'm sure the family members will be very concerned about him getting out after serving 25 years. That's not going to feel like a long time to them," Booker said.
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Tracy Page said the proposed plea deal leaves herself and other grieving families sick to their stomachs.
"It kept me from not wanting to go up there and just choke him myself because of what he did to all these people and all these families that have to go through this," Tracy Page said.
The proposed plea deal is still up for discussion and hasn't been agreed to by prosecutors at this time.
The next hearing in Meza's case is set for June 4, but he is not expected to appear in court.