Gloria Lofton's daughter reacts to updates in the Raul Meza investigation
Months have passed since Sonia Houston was first informed that Raul Meza Jr., 62, was connected with her mother, Gloria Lofton’s, death. Houston said in recent weeks, she feels Austin police have been more communicative with her, but still, she wants more answers.
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Months have passed since Sonia Houston was first informed that Raul Meza Jr., 62, was connected with her mother, Gloria Lofton’s, death. Houston said in recent weeks, she feels Austin police have been more communicative with her, but still, she wants more answers.
Since the APD press conference in May, there have been several updates in the case, including when authorities in July searched a field where, nearby, in 2022, officials had seen Meza, who at the time “appeared as though he had been in a fight,” according to documents. There, investigators uncovered clothes, rope and a tarp, and “several locations displayed the properties of a possible burial site,” according to court documents.
Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon told KXAN’s Briana Hollis that since it is still an open investigation, he could not provide more details on the field search.
More recently, a grand jury indicted Meza in the death of Lofton and the 2023 death of Jesse Fraga, 80. Online court records show he’s being held on $1 million bond. In May, APD arrested Meza for the murders.
Meza’s first status hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20.
“That doesn't bring back my mom. That doesn't bring back Mr. Fraga. That doesn't bring back the people in between,” Houston said.
Because police are still actively investigating her mother’s death, Houston cannot get all the information she wants.
“I have all these unanswered questions that they have the answers to, but they can't get to me,” she said. “I would love to be a part of the process, but to me, it is just a waiting game… It's a waiting game to determine how long he's going to be behind bars,” she said.
Until then, Houston, who is a mother, goes about her life as normal as she can -- working full time and taking her son to football practice -- but her mom stays top-of-mind.
“[The process] definitely makes me think about her a lot more. It definitely makes me remind my kid that hey, this is who she was. And I definitely let them know she's more than just this situation," Houston said.
“Just the little stuff – it matters. It means something to me and the fact that I have those memories, I try to pay it forward with them.”