Maine man who fled to Mexico after hit-and-run killing sentenced to 48 years

ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) — A Maine man who ran over his girlfriend with a vehicle in Acadia National Park and then fled to Mexico was sentenced Thursday to 48 years in prison for murder.

Raymond Lester, 37, of Portland, was convicted in November of killing his girlfriend, Nicole Mokeme, in the hit-and-run crash at the Schoodic Institute in Winter Harbor.

The victim served as creative director of Rise and Shine Youth Retreat, which offers retreats and programs for Black children and adults. She also was one of the organizers of the Black Excellence Retreat 2022, which was in progress when she died.

Court documents indicate Mokeme was last seen near a fire pit late during the event in June 2022, and her body was found the following day.

Lester was nowhere to be found. But license-plate readers captured his BMW traveling through several states, including Georgia and Texas, days after the killing. Mexican authorities arrested him without incident in Cancun about a month later.