A foreign national from Peru with a history of violent crimes was detained by federal immigration authorities after a Tennessee school official alerted ICE to a child’s warning that her father might kill her mother.
Earlier this month, a young girl in Nashville told school officials she feared Luis Meza-Olivera would kill her mother. The school reported the concern to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and federal agents arrested Meza-Olivera on March 14, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire.
Meza-Olivera, who had recently been released from Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville, Tennessee, has an extensive criminal record.
“Luis Meza-Olivera is a monster whose daughter feared he would kill her mother. This criminal alien from Peru should NOT be loose on American streets,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told The Daily Wire. “Thanks to a school official who left a tip for ICE, this individual is now in ICE custody and will enter removal proceedings.”
Bis added that others should follow the lead of the school official and report tips to ICE.
According to DHS, Meza-Olivera entered the United States on a B-2 tourist visa in 2002 and became a lawful permanent resident in 2010. He is now subject to removal due to his criminal convictions.
Those convictions include aggravated kidnapping, arson, and aggravated assault in Tennessee, as well as a DUI conviction in California. He also faced charges for attempted first-degree murder, vandalism, and child cruelty.
In 2017, Meza-Olivera was convicted in Tennessee of two counts of aggravated assault and three counts of aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Court records show the charges stemmed from a December 27, 2015, incident in which deputies in Washington County found a woman “hogtied” in her bedroom with a rope tied around her neck.
“The deputies were dispatched to the victim’s home after her five-year-old son, J.S., called 911 and stated that he was locked in the victim’s bedroom closet. The victim had no memory of what had happened,” court records say.
Meza-Olivera was arrested days later in Memphis and identified by the victim. Court filings describe multiple incidents of violence, including one in which the victim was locked in her bathroom while a fire raged outside.
“The victim was unable to open the bathroom door,” court records say. “When firefighters arrived at the farmhouse, they found a rug on fire in front of the bathroom door and the head of an axe wedged underneath the bathroom door to prevent it from opening.”
A Tennessee Court of Appeals later rejected Meza-Olivera’s attempt to overturn his conviction.
.png)
.png)
