A Phoenix mother pleaded guilty this week to second-degree murder, concealment of a body and multiple counts of severe child abuse in connection with the death of her 9-year-old adopted daughter, whose remains were hidden inside the family attic for more than three years before a house fire exposed them in 2020. Maribel Loera entered her plea on Tuesday, and under the agreement she is expected to receive 32 years in prison, including 22 years of flat time, followed by lifetime supervised probation.
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, investigators say the girl died in late 2016 after Loera failed to get her emergency medical care following an injury. The plea deal spares Loera from capital punishment and dismisses several secondary charges that had been filed against her. Her formal sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 16 at 9 a.m., and her release eligibility has been revoked in the meantime, pending that hearing.
A Body Hidden for Years, Then a Fire
Investigators say Loera and her husband, Rafael Loera, concealed the child's body inside the attic of their home for more than three years. The case did not surface until January 2020, when an 11-year-old girl called 911 after being left home alone at a residence near 59th Avenue and Camelback Road. Phoenix police responded and uncovered evidence of severe child abuse at the home, and the 11-year-old was placed with the Arizona Department of Child Safety following the intervention.
Days later, child welfare investigators returned to the residence and removed two more children. Just one hour after those children were taken to safety, a fire broke out at the house, and firefighters discovered human skeletal remains hidden inside — the remains later identified as those of the 9-year-old girl who had died years earlier.
Surviving Children Describe Years of Abuse
Two of the surviving children testified about years of severe physical and psychological abuse inside the home. Investigators say Loera inflicted daily violence on the children who remained in her care, including beatings with electrical cords and sticks, burning their skin with matches and slamming their heads into walls.
A surviving daughter told the court that seeing her physical scars still brings back memories of the abuse. “The abuse that I went through probably like changed me as a person. I don't really look at myself the same,” she said, according to the outlet's report. A surviving son testified that Loera once attacked him with a knife, telling the court, “She tried to murder me with the knife and I still have the scars on me.” He said he did not believe Loera should ever be released, in part because doing so would mean he could not have his sister.
Husband's Case Still Pending
Rafael Loera, identified as Maribel Loera's husband and co-defendant, remains in custody awaiting a separate trial scheduled for early 2027. The report's source material draws on Maricopa County Superior Court records and information from the Phoenix Police Department.
The case adds to a grim list of child-murder prosecutions to emerge from the Phoenix area in recent years, including the 2011 killing of 10-year-old Ame Deal, though the two cases are otherwise unrelated. Loera's own sentencing, and the resolution of the charges against her husband, remain the next steps still to play out in the courts.
