Southwest
Authorities seek public’s help identifying suspected Texas serial killer after DNA links person to 2 murders
The Austin Police Department (APD) is requesting the public’s help to identify a suspected serial killer whose DNA was linked to the murders of two women in the metropolitan area.
At about 4 p.m. June 21, police responded to a call from someone who reported seeing what appeared to be a body at a home in the 2600 block of Metcalfe Road.
When officers arrived, they found a dead woman, later identified as 34-year-old Alyssa Rivera, inside an abandoned house.
A brief investigation conducted by homicide detectives and crime specialists led investigators to believe Rivera was murdered at the home by an unknown suspect.
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The Austin Police Department is asking for the public’s help identifying a suspect in the murders of Alyssa Rivera and Alba Jenisse Aviles. (Austin Police Department)
On July 3, police released video and images of a person of interest in Rivera’s murder. The videos showed what appeared to be a Hispanic male walking next to a woman who was taller than he was.
As the investigation continued, investigators learned of a DNA connection between Rivera’s case and the April 14, 2018, unsolved murder of Alba Jenisse Aviles in the 300 block of Old San Antonio Road in Bastrop County, Texas.
The Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the murder of Aviles, who left Club Caribe on Felter Lane in Austin on the night she was murdered.
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The Austin Police Department is asking for the public’s help identifying a suspect seen on surveillance. (Austin Police Department)
The club is just over 3 miles away from where Rivera was murdered, police said, and both homicides appear to be sexual in nature.
Police said while no suspect has been identified in either case, DNA evidence shows the suspect to be the same in both cases.
Austin is notorious for its share of serial killers.
Last year, Texas police and U.S. Marshals announced the arrest of Raul Meza Jr., 62, in the murders of former probation officer Jesse Fraga, 80, who had given Meza a place to stay for years, and Gloria Lofton, 66, who was found dead in her home in 2019.
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Raul Meza, 63, allegedly killed at least two people, but law enforcement said he’s connected to at least 10 homicides in Texas. (Austin Police Department)
Meza is a convicted child killer who has bounced in and out of prison for decades.
On May 20, 2023, he allegedly strangled Fraga with a belt, stabbed him and severed his spine, prompting a manhunt that ended with the suspect apparently calling police and turning himself in.
Meza has a lengthy rap sheet that goes back to 1982, when he sexually assaulted and strangled an 8-year-old girl outside an Austin elementary school.
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In 1982, Raul Meza raped and killed 8-year-old Kendra Page before dumping her body behind Langford Elementary School in Southeast Austin, FOX 7 reported. (FOX 7 Austin)
He served 11 years of a 30-year sentence before his release. He violated parole in 1994, went back to prison and was released in 2002. Meza was on parole until 2016.
In January, law enforcement issued a search warrant for Meza’s Google account from Nov. 1, 2016, to May 29, 2023, hoping to find information tying him to a 2018 Austin cold case, as well as information that links him to at least two homicides in San Antonio.
“Meza committed additional sexual assaults after his supervised release ended in 2016, and believe data associated with the Google LLC account herein will assist investigators in corroborating Meza as a suspect in the murder of Gloria Lofton, Jesse Fraga and the shooting he admitted to in San Antonio as well as additional cold case homicides,” the search warrant said, according to a report by the Austin American-Statesman.
There is speculation one of Meza’s victims is college student Nicole Coleman, whose naked body was found in a wooded area of Austin in 2018 with signs of trauma.
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Raul Meza Jr., 62, has been tied to several murders since 1975, but police are looking at other murders that may bare his signature, according to police and local news. (Pflugerville Police Department)
Her unsolved homicide has been like a hovering storm cloud over the city for years.
Meza’s arrest made him Austin’s first known serial killer since the “Servant Girl Annihilator,” who was believed to have killed eight women in 1885, according to city authorities, though the killer was never captured.
Police were looking at Meza in other deaths in Austin, though they told Fox News Digital at the time the deaths were not linked to a series of drownings at Lady Bird Lake near Rainey Street, where four men were found dead in a span of weeks.
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Detectives also said at the time that they had found no evidence of a serial killer or foul play in the Rainey Street and Lady Bird Lake incidents.
Still, independent investigators, concerned residents, web sleuths and tens of thousands of members of a Facebook group following the string of incidents have voiced concerns of a possible murderer on the loose in the deaths of men on Rainey Street, which is home to a strip of bars a block or so from the water’s edge.
The APD told Fox News Digital Thursday the deaths of Rivera and Aviles are not linked to the deaths near Lady Bird Lake.
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Austin Police homicide and missing persons detectives, a lake patrol unit and crime scene specialists responded to investigate at Lady Bird lake last year. A body was discovered in the lake Monday. (FOX 7 Austin)
Police said the homicide unit investigates each death in the city to determine if it is suspicious, and after initial investigations, a medical examiner does a hands-on body exam to determine if there are any signs of physical injuries. After that, a toxicology exam is conducted, which could take months.
“Through this process, one death near Lady Bird Lake in December 2022 was ruled a homicide,” police told Fox News Digital. “In that particular case, the victim was shot as he was driving by two groups that had been arguing. The other deaths in and around Lady Bird Lake are not considered suspicious due to the results of these investigations.”
Police also said there is a possibility there could be more homicides linked to the suspect in the Rivera and Aviles murders. However, the APD said, it “does not have any unsolved murders that match the modus operandi” of what happened to the two women.
Criminal defense attorney Daniel W. Betts, who is running against the George Soros-supported Travis County district attorney, Jose Garza, told Fox News Digital on Thursday that once a suspect is arrested, the district attorney should keep the death penalty on the table as an option for punishment.
The death penalty is legal in Texas, and while Betts – who is a Republican – does not like the penalty, he acknowledged its importance in the case of murderers.
“I think it is important to leave it on the table and to not telegraph to criminals what we’re going to do on cases,” he said. “For cases like this in Texas, when you murder multiple people, you become eligible…for the death penalty, and if you don’t have that, and I’m not saying it’s warranted here, but leaving it off the table and saying we will never consider it like the current DA has, it’s such a horrible precedent.
“The victims here were sexually assaulted and murdered,” Betts added. “So, as district attorney, I would absolutely leave it on the table.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Garza’s office for comment on the matter.
Investigators are continuing to seek leads regarding the person of interest shown in the video and ask anyone with information to contact them at 512-974-TIPS.
Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can contact Capital Area Crime Stoppers by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477. Tips leading to an arrest could result in a reward of up to $1,000.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Eberhart and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Residents of a Los Angeles neighborhood are speaking out after the department of water and power began taking down whimsical pieces of scrap metal art attached to power poles, claiming they are a safety hazard for workers.
Artist Lori Powers began putting up the colorful designs in her Mar Vista neighborhood in 2017, and then really ramped up production during the pandemic.
Powers told KTLA’s Jennifer McGraw that she’s baffled by the sudden call from officials at the L.A. Department of Water and Power to have them removed.
“Hopefully, somebody will let me know because this is crazy,” she said. “Another reason that I did it is because this is a fast thoroughfare, and I wanted to slow down cars.”
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A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA) -
A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA) -
A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA) -
A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA) -
A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA) -
A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA) -
A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA) -
A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA) -
A local artist and supporters in a Mar Vista community are fighting to keep up artwork DWP has deemed a safety hazard to workers. (KTLA)
Members of the tight-knit community say that they are outraged that DWP wants to remove the playful artwork that brings happiness to the neighborhood.
“When I walk the streets, when I run the streets, they put a smile on my face,” neighbor Paul Von Blum told KTLA. “Everybody I’ve spoken to has precisely the same reaction.”
Neighbor Aaron Thompson said the artwork brings character to the community and believes that it’s especially nice for the children who live there.
Now, the neighborhood is putting up a fight, even confronting workers as they began removing them.
“We want to see them stay,” another neighbor told KTLA. “Over the years, we’ve developed a relationship with all of the artwork, specific pieces, specific locations over time. So, we’re very supportive.”
The fight over the artwork has even reached city hall, with L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park joining the fray and allowing Powers’ work to remain in place while she tries to work on a solution with DWP officials.
Southwest
Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship to vote supported by 24 state AGs in emergency stay with SCOTUS
Nearly half the state attorneys general in the U.S. have filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court to back an emergency stay that will allow the State of Arizona to require U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections.
The Republican Party of Arizona said on Thursday that it had filed the emergency application pending appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit “in support of HB 2492, our law requiring proof of citizenship to vote in presidential elections.”
The Arizona law requires proof of citizenship for ballots even if they are filed by mail.
“The Constitution gives states the power to set voter qualifications, and AZ is leading the charge to ensure ONLY CITIZENS vote in our elections,” the Arizona GOP tweeted. “This case has the potential to prevent non-citizen voting once and for all, which should have been the case all along.”
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A voter drops off a ballot in front of the Orange County registrar’s office in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Photo by Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
The brief was backed by attorneys general from 24 other states, including Texas, Florida, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Virginia, along with the two states that filed the brief — Kansas and West Virginia.
The Dhillon Law Group filed the brief, stating the Constitution does not support the district court’s ruling, and that it’s legal for a state to require proof of citizenship to vote in elections.
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“The Court should therefore immediately stay the District Court’s injunction to the extent it interferes with Arizona’s constitutional power to choose how it appoints its presidential electors,” Harmeet Dhillon, lead attorney for the law group wrote.
The non-partisan group Honest Elections Project said that states “are well within their rights to require people to show proof of citizenship in order to vote by mail.” The group stated on its website that “We believe the Supreme Court should allow Arizona’s law to go into effect and allow states to secure their own elections.”
Rolls of “I Voted” stickers are stored at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) ahead of the 2024 Arizona Primary and General elections in Phoenix, Arizona on June 3, 2024. Maricopa County election workers have repeatedly been the target of harassment and threats since the 2020 US election due to the spread of online misinformation about voter fraud. Officials are preparing for another onslaught of conspiracy theories in the 2024 presidential race by bulking up security and giving public tours at their ballot tabulation facility in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
An emergency application for stay by the Republican National Committee argues that voter integrity is a “problem” that’s gone unchecked, particularly with so many “illegal aliens” in the country.
“There is every reason to believe this problem of non-citizen voting has gotten worse, as the number of aliens in the United States has undeniably grown. One study suggests there were over 11 million illegal aliens in the country in 2019.”
“Each of those aliens represents another possible opening for voter fraud, for each represents a probability — no matter how small — that they will vote illegally. Add to that the other possible sources of noncitizen voting — such as aliens here legally but who cannot vote or who have overstayed their visas — and the magnitude of the problem becomes clear.”
Read the full article from Here
Weeks removed from Governor Gavin Newsom’s directive to remove unauthorized homeless encampments from the streets of California, one city is set to begin a teardown of tents this week.
Speaking to KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the city didn’t want to rush the actions, but now’s the time to act.
“We fully understand how sensitive this is for our residents and also the urgency of some of the chronic encampments, so we took our time,” Richardson said.
Long Beach has waited a little less than a month to dismantle encampments following the July 25 executive order from Newsom that encourages local governments to address the homelessness problem, giving them guidelines on processes that include clearing encampments and aiding the unhoused population with alternative options.
In the weeks since, Newsom himself has expressed deep frustration at the lack of action in removing encampments from some local governments, even after his executive order. The Democratic Governor has threatened to withhold funds from cities that fails to remove encampments.
“We need local government to step up. This is a crisis,” Newsom told reporters on Aug. 8. “The state’s unprecedented billions of dollars of support? I’m not interested in providing that support and not seeing the results. I’m a taxpayer, not just the governor. It’s not complicated. We’ll send that money to counties that are producing results.”
Newsom’s push against homeless encampments comes after a recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed governments to criminalize “public camping,” or sleeping on streets and sidewalks.
In a memo released last week, Long Beach officials detailed their intention to comply with the order, saying that unhoused people may be cited or arrested for refusing to leave encampments.
Critics of the recent push against encampments have raised ethics concerns regarding the treatment of California’s unhoused population, saying the criminalization of homelessness could create more problems than it solves.
“If the only crime you are arresting or citing someone for is just existing in public space, that’s criminalization [of homelessness],” said John Ralphing of Human Rights Watch.
Long Beach officials say that people experiencing homelessness won’t be arrested or cited outright without committing any other crimes in the process, but instead will be offered outreach programs first. The city does, however, intend to tear down tents in public spaces.
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