Providence man convicted in murder of 36-year-old man for second time

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter Neronha has announced that a Providence man has been found guilty in Providence Superior Court for the murder of 36-year-old Julio Perez Mejia in 2015. 

On December 12, 2024, following the conclusion of a four-day trial before Superior Court Justice Kristin Rodgers, a jury found 42-year-old Miguel Tebalan Rivera guilty of one count of second-degree murder and one count of possession of a knife with a blade longer than three inches during the commission of a crime of violence.

Rivera is currently being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions pending a sentencing hearing to be scheduled at a later date.

“In 2015, Julio was stabbed and left to die because this defendant preferred to settle a score with callous violence,” said Attorney General Neronha. “Julio’s family, like so many other families affected by violent crime, must endure lifetimes of pain because someone chose to commit an act of senseless violence. We can and we must do better as a community. I hope that this verdict brings some peace and closure to the victim’s family and I’m grateful for the Providence Police Department’s partnership in the investigation and prosecution of this case.”

During the trial, the state proved that on December 23, 2015, Rivera stabbed and killed Mejia at an apartment in Providence. 

On December 23, 2015, at approximately 6:30 p.m., Rivera walked into the Providence Police District 2 sub-station on Broad Street and told patrol officers that he killed someone and offered to take them to the scene of the crime. In a police cruiser, Rivera directed officers to an apartment on Moore Street. Once inside, officers found Mejia in a large pool of blood, unresponsive and suffering from several stab wounds. Emergency personnel responded to the scene and declared Mejia deceased at approximately 6:43 p.m.

Rivera was convicted in the murder in 2018, however, in 2021 the conviction was overturned with a new trial ordered after it was determined that his attorney violated his civil rights.

“I want to thank the men and women of the Providence Police Department and the Attorney General’s Office for their diligent efforts and work throughout this case, resulting in justice for the victim of this senseless act of violence,” said Providence Police Colonel Oscar L. Perez Jr. “I hope that the outcome of this case gives the victim’s family some sense of peace and closure.”

Assistant Attorneys General Meghan McDonough and Daniel Guglielmo of the Office of the Attorney General and Detective Daniel O’Connell of the Providence Police Department led the investigation and prosecution of the case.