IVAN MEJIA - 17 yo - / Charged: 2 unnamed teenagers - Wylie, TX

2 Teen Boys Accused of Killing Texas Classmate


WYLIE, Texas March 10, 2014 (AP)

By NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press



Two 16-year-olds are accused of targeting and killing a classmate after police in Texas say they were caught trying to dump the other boy's body.

The teens are being held in the death of 17-year-old Ivan Mejia, a senior at Wylie East High School, northeast of Dallas. Mejia's death comes two years after another Wylie East student was killed, and a fellow teenager was sentenced in that case.

A 911 call Saturday about a car veering off a highway led police to a wooded area in Garland, south of Wylie, where authorities say they spotted the teens. Police said that when the two were interrogated, the boys said they were trying to get rid of Mejia's body.

Police say Mejia had been killed on a road behind the Wylie school.

The two boys, who are juniors at Wylie East, were not identified because they are juveniles. They were being held in Collin County juvenile detention and face murder charges, Wylie Police Sgt. Donna Valdepena said Monday.

Valdepena would not say how Mejia died, though an autopsy is pending.

She said it was clear Mejia had been targeted by the boys — though she would not disclose why — and that there could be other potential suspects in his death.

"This was planned," Valdepena said. "We do have evidence that it was pre-planned."

Mejia was remembered by friends for his ambition to help others and to one day join the Marines.

Enrique Hernandez, a 17-year-old resident of nearby Frisco, Texas, went to church with Mejia and remembers seeing him wear his ROTC uniform.

"He had trained to go to the Marines and was awaiting his shipment date," Hernandez said in an email. "He had previously promised his mom that he would come back from the Marines safely."

Hernandez said Mejia was someone who worried about others and was quick to lend a helping hand.

"He had so many people he could help and he tried to help them all," Hernandez said.

Wylie East student Nahum Martinez, 15, was fatally shot two years ago and left near a storm drain. A 15-year-old teen involved in trying to hide Martinez's body was given 15 years in prison last year.

Valdepena said police were not concerned about the safety situation at Wylie East.

"This did not involve the school in any manner," she said Monday.

Ian Halperin, a spokesman for the Wylie school district, said the high school would make counselors available for students when they return from spring break next week.

"The entire Wylie ISD community is shocked and saddened by this senseless act," Halperin said. "We are cooperating with the police as they investigate, and we hope they will be able to provide us with some understanding of how this tragedy unfolded."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/charged-death-north-texas-student-17-22842507

Police: Dispute over girl led to Wylie East High student's killing

By JULIETA CHIQUILLO and CLAIRE Z. CARDONA, Staff Writer
Published: 09 March 2014 07:40 PM
Updated: 10 March 2014 05:28 PM

The killing of a Wylie East High School student followed a dispute with two schoolmates about a relationship with a girl, prosecutors said at a juvenile detention hearing Monday.

Two 16-year-old boys were taken into custody and charged Sunday with killing 17-year-old Ivan Mejia.

Mejia and one of the suspects apparently had been involved with the same girl.

The attackers put “significant” planning and premeditation into the killing, according to testimony at a juvenile detention hearing Monday.

Police accuse them of choking Mejia to death by headlock and dumping his body in a creek in a wooded area in Garland.

Citing information from a police report, juvenile probation officer Antonia Allen testified that the teens had been planning the murder since March 3. That included preparation on how to lure the victim, commit the murder and dispose of the body.

“It was premeditated,” prosecutor Kelly Ludy said. “It was callous. It was violent.”

Both teens physically participated in the murder, according to testimony.

When Judge Cynthia Wheless asked both teens in separate hearings if they understood the charges, they said calmly that they did.

The hearing ended shortly after 4 p.m. with a judge ordering that both teenagers be kept in detention until the next hearing.

Both sets of parents were there. The mother of one of the teens let out a sob as her son was led away.

Ivan’s body was found in Garland on Saturday night, police said. They did not say how he died.

Wylie police said that the boys killed Mejia behind their school, on Bennett Road, on Saturday night. Police said the slaying of the high school senior was planned. The suspects, whose names were not released because they are juveniles, disposed of the body in a wooded area in Garland, police said.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, a 911 caller reported that a car was veering off State Highway 78 near Firewheel Town Center mall toward a wooded area, said Officer Joe Harn, a spokesman with the Garland Police Department.

When Garland officers responded to the call, they saw a vacant car and two 16-year-olds running from the area. When they returned to the car, police were waiting and asked them what they were doing, said Wylie Sgt. Donna Valdepena.

She said they told police: “We are burying a body.”

Garland police found Mejia’s body nearby and contacted Wylie police.

The two Wylie East students are being held at the Collin County Juvenile Detention facility. Bail has not been set.

At a vigil on Sunday night, Mejia’s friends said that he wanted to enroll in the military after high school. He was a member of the Wylie East Air Force Jr. Office Reserve Training Corps.

"Ivan was dedicated to the Marines," said Cody Wilson, who was in ROTC with Mejia.

Wilson said Mejia used to stare at a poster in an ROTC classroom of two Marines in uniform with medals and ribbons.

"Every time we had something to do with Marines, he was always front and center, always watching, always listening," he said. "I could tell he wanted it bad. I knew in my heart he would have been the best."

Wylie ISD spokesman Ian Halperin said the incident was not connected to any school or district-sponsored activity. He said counselors will be available at the Wylie East High School campus this week during spring break.

“The entire Wylie ISD community is shocked and saddened by this senseless act,” Halperin said in a prepared statement. “We are cooperating with the police as they investigate, and we hope they will be able to provide us with some understanding of how this tragedy unfolded.”

It is the second slaying involving Wylie East High School students in recent years.

Freshman Nahum Martinez, 15, was shot in the forehead at close range in March 2012. The classmate who shot him was 14 at the time. He and another 14-year-old classmate wrapped Nahum’s body in a comforter, dropped it out a second-story window, dragged his body down the street and tried to stuff it down a storm drain.

The shooter was sentenced to 15 years in custody in June. The second teen pleaded guilty for his role in disposing of Nahum’s body. He was sentenced in September 2012 to a year in the juvenile justice system followed by probation until he turns 18.

Mejia was friends with Nahum and was very upset by his death, said Salma Montero, 13, who met Mejia a few years ago at a church youth group in Plano.

Montero remembers Mejia as a "cool guy" who was always smiling, laughing and telling jokes. She said his family is "trying the hardest with this situation" and asks for prayers.

"I have no idea why someone would do this to him," Montero said. "He was very loving and just a great person to be around. He cheered a lot of people up."

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/20140309-police-teen-suspects-in-wylie-student-s-killing-were-burying-a-body-before-arrests.ece