A Maine man on the run for more than a month was arrested this week in Mexico on an arrest warrant charging him with murder in connection with his girlfriend’s June 19 death.
The U.S. Marshals Service Violent Offender Task Force arrested Raymond Lester, 35, on Monday evening after catching up to him in Cancun.
Lester had been wanted in connection with the death of Nicole Mokeme since June 21, when the warrant was issued. He was also being sought on a federal warrant issued June 29 for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
“Through a collective effort, investigators in Maine learned Lester had fled the U.S. and was in Cancun, Mexico,” reads a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service. “Mexican authorities in collaboration with the USMS Mexico Foreign Field took Lester into custody Monday evening without incident.”
Lester arrived in Chicago on Wednesday and will be transferred to Maine after he’s arraigned in Illinois on federal charges.
Mokeme died after being intentionally struck in a hit-and-run on June 18 while she was in Acadia National Park. She was mother to an 11-year-old girl.
In 2013, Mokeme founded Rise and Shine Youth Retreat, a rejuvenation center for the enrichment and liberation of Black people in Maine, her obituary states. She also served as the organization’s executive creative director.
Lester and Mokeme had been dating for three years. Mokeme was a longtime activist, organizer, and leader in the Black community. She was killed by her boyfriend during a retreat she had organized over the Juneteenth holiday week.
Lester has been arrested before for domestic violence in 2008, when he was charged with domestic violence assault to which he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to less than a month in jail.
Black on black violence. Nothing new here
What a crime!
She certainly didn’t deserve to die in this manner and I’m glad they caught the guy, he sounds like a real sweetheart. But a rejuvenation center for the enrichment and liberation of black people in Maine? Are there lots of enslaved black people in Maine? What was she liberating them from?
Yeah, really…. liberation from what? In Maine?
Tragic & horrible end to a young life
Sorry but its hard to feel sad for a black liberal activist blm comes to mind one in jail the other in the ground good riddens!
You need to ask for forgiveness. Where is your humanity?
REGARDLESS TO YOUR ASININE REPLY, SHE WAS MORE VALUABLE THAN YOU ARE, ONE, BECAUSE SHE BIRTHED A CHILD. SECONDLY, GOD CREATED HER FOR HIS PURPOSE. I HOPE THAT YOUR COLD, MISCALCULATED STATEMENTS DOESN’T CAUSE YOU TO LOSE SOME TEETH ONE DAY.