Family of murder victim outraged as DNA error and an overlooked note sabotage investigation
Gloria Lofton was murdered in 2019 and her family have been desperate for justice and answers ever since.
Gloria Lofton was found dead in her Texas home in 2019,and puzzled authorities on what had happened until a murder suspect confessed to the crime.
Previously convicted murderer Raul Meza Jr., 63, served about a decade in prison for killing an 8-year-old girl before he was released.
Police have said last year in May he confessed to killing his 80 year-old roommate, Jesse Fraga, and implicated himself in Lofton’s sexual assault and murder.
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He has since been charged with both murders and this month entered a plea deal to return to prison for 50 years in exchange for avoiding going to trial and facing a possible death sentence.
Lofton’s family have urged prosecutors to reject this plea. Police are currently looking into as many as 10 other unsolved cases that they think might be connected to Meza since his release in 1993.
Daughter of Lofton, Christina Fultz, has also expressed her frustration at DNA evidence that could have incriminated Meza at the scene being mismanaged.
She also complained that a note, that identified Meza by name, was not recovered by authorities, but rather, herself.
Fultz, 35, said when she and her sister went to their mom’s home six days after her body was discovered, they found the note. They did not report the note to police at the time.
She said she had forgotten about the note and only realized about it after going through video footage she had taken of her mom’s home after her death.
“It was there in front of us this whole time, and who knows how many deaths may have been prevented had they looked around a little bit further and a little bit harder?” Fultz said.
Regarding the fumbling of DNA evidence, the affidavit stated the medical examiner found evidence that she may have been strangled but the cause and manner of death were listed as undetermined
In a statement this month, interim Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson said the department was 'deeply sorry' about the oversight linked to the DNA report.
“We realize the impacts this has on the case itself, community and most importantly the victims and their families,” Henderson said in the statement.
“As soon as the error was brought to our attention, we addressed it as quickly as we could to identify how it happened and implemented policies to avoid incidents like this from reoccurring. Since this occurrence, the Austin Police Department has added redundancies into the notification process to ensure this does not happen again.”
Topics: Crime, True crime, US News, Science, Police
Gerrard Kaonga