Man accused in Florida cold case takes own life

SANTA CRUZ >> A 46-yearold Watsonville man taken into police custody last month on suspicion of his involvement with a 2004 F lorida homicide died Thursday.

R aul Mata , a loc a l nurse, was arrested Sept. 21 and was being held as an inmate at Santa Cruz County Main Jail while awaiting extradition by the Miami- Dade Police

Department back to Florida to face murder charges in the death of his stepdaughter Dilcia Mejia.

Mata had been taken to an area hospital for treatment Sept. 28 after reportedly wounding himself in the left groin area. His subsequent death, according to a release from the Sheriff’s Office, was due to complications related to the wound. Under similar circumstances, accused child molester Dr. James Kohut was found dead in his cell Oct. 13, 2019, after reportedly cutting an incision in his left groin and partially severing his femoral artery. Kohut had been arrested May 14, 2017 and was awaiting trial in multiple felony counts of alleged sexual abuse of four children.

Last month, the Sheriff’s Office released information about Mata’s selfinf licted injury, though they did not identify Mata at the time, due to medical privacy concerns. In a Sept. 30 release, the agency wrote that a corrections officer doing routine rounds in the jail found an injured inmate around 2 a.m. Sept. 28.

“The Corrections Officer and jail medical staff began life- saving measures until medics arrived,” the release stated. “The inmate was transported to a hospital where they are currently being treated.”