Trail in Miami teen’s 2004 slaying leads to stepdad’s California arrest on murder charges
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The trail of a cold case killing of a Florida girl 16 years ago has ended with her stepfather’s arrest 3,000 miles away on California’s Central Coast.
Raul Mata, 46, is being held without bail in Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of being a fugitive from justice, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. A first-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of Dilcia Mejias, 16, awaits the Watsonville nurse when he is extradited back to Miami.
“All crime victims should gain strength from the knowledge, shown by this arrest, that unsolved cases are never, never forgotten,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement announcing Mata’s arrest Sept. 17 —16 years to the day that police officers were called to the Miami home.
Mejias’ smiling face looks out from the photo on Miami-Dade Police Department’s cold case web page.
The 16-year-old Mejias was last seen alive 11 p.m. Sept. 16, 2004, say Miami-Dade police. She was watching television at the home she shared with her mother and stepfather Mata.
Mejias’ mother left the house about 5:30 a.m. the following morning but didn’t check on her daughter. Police say Mata left little more than two hours later, at 7:45 a.m., but returned at 9:18 a.m. and reported finding Mejias’ body.
Mata separated from Dilcia’s mother after the girl’s death and relocated to California, the Sentinel reported, citing news reports.
Miami-Dade police had long suspected Mata was connected to her death, but detectives got their break when forensics experts were able to match DNA taken from the young Mejias with Mata’s. Investigators then linked that to other physical evidence to solidify their case.
Watsonville police worked with Miami-Dade investigators to find Mata, arresting the man with help from Santa Cruz police.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 11:15 AM.
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