Couple Created Phony Alibi in ‘Love Affair Gone Wrong': Feds

David Enrique Meza and Taylor Marie Langston pleaded not guilty in the killing of Jake Merendino

Prosecutors said a South Bay couple created a phony alibi to avoid arrest in the fatal stabbing of a wealthy Texas man in Baja California, Mexico, in what officials call “a love affair gone wrong.”

David Enrique Meza, 25, and his girlfriend, Taylor Marie Langston, 20, both pleaded not guilty to various charges Thursday in federal court. Meza is charged with interstate or foreign domestic violence resulting in murder and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Taylor is also accused of conspiracy, as well as additional charges of obstruction of justice and making a false statement to a police officer.

Meza and Taylor have a newborn child together and live in Imperial Beach. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Foster said Meza was also involved in a homosexual relationship with the stabbing victim, 52-year-old Jake Clyde Merendino.

“It’s about a love affair gone wrong,” said Foster, referring to Merendino and Meza's relationship.

Meza allegedly stabbed Merendino to death in the early hours of May 2 in Baja California. Merendino’s body was found in a ravine near the highway that links Rosarito and Ensenada.

Foster said Meza killed Merendino, who was a wealthy retiree from Texas, just one day after Merendino closed escrow on a luxury oceanfront condo in Baja. Several days later, Meza allegedly produced Merendino’s handwritten will that made him the sole heir to the victim’s sizable estate.

“He stood to inherit from a will, he stood to inherit as a beneficiary of the condominium in Rosarito, he stood to gain a significant amount from the death of his lover,” said Foster.

The prosecutor said Mexican officials told their U.S. counterparts about the alleged crime, prompting the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office to begin their investigation.

When questioned by investigators, Meza and Langston allegedly claimed they had been visiting with a friend named “Joe” in Tijuana at the time of Merendino’s murder. But Foster said phone records and Facebook posts contradicted that alibi, and “Joe” told investigators he had not seen the couple for a year and a half and they have never visited his home.

During an interview with FBI agents, Meza admitted to robbing Merendino after they found the victim’s iPad in the couple’s apartment, according to a search warrant. He said he did not murder the victim. A weapon was never found.

Meza and Langston were arrested Wednesday morning at their Imperial Beach apartment. In court, Foster said Meza is a flight risk and a danger to the community. Magistrate Judge William Gallo ordered Meza to remain in federal jail without bail, but Meza will be back in court Monday, Dec. 28 for a hearing that could result in his release on bond.

Meza’s alleged co-conspirator and mother of his infant child can leave jail if her family posts a $50,000 property bond. Langston must stay with her family, as well as find and keep a job or attend school, while she awaits her trial. Langston must also wear a GPS monitor and abide by a court-imposed curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day.

Both the prosecutor and defense agreed that Langston was a candidate for bond, in part because she needs to breast feed her infant.

The prosecutor also revealed that Langston had sought and received a restraining order against Meza last year after a domestic violence incident. At that time, a judge ordered Meza not to physically attack or harm his live-in partner, though they continued to live together.
 

Contact Us