An Arizona woman will spend decades in prison for killing her 9-year-old adopted daughter, concealing the girl’s remains in her home’s attic for years, and later setting the house on fire.
On Sept. 22, Maribel Loera, 57, accepted a plea deal on one count each of second-degree murder and concealment of a body, along with multiple counts of child abuse in connection with the death of her daughter, Ana Loera. Ana was originally believed to be 13 years old when her remains were discovered in January 2020, but subsequent estimates revised her age down to 9.
Under the plea agreement, Loera will serve up to 32 years in state prison, including 22 years of “flat time” that cannot be reduced through credit or parole, and will remain on lifetime supervision after her release, according to a courtroom report from Phoenix-based Fox.
The case began on Jan. 20, 2020, when police responded to a call about an 11-year-old girl left alone at the Loera residence. The girl told officers she had been neglected and abused, prompting the Department of Child Safety to remove her from the home.
She had reportedly called 911 herself that day to report being hungry and abandoned for days, according to the Arizona Republic. She also told police that Loera “struck her on multiple occasions with knotted extension cords and slammed her head into walls,” the Associated Press reported. Two younger children were soon removed from the home as well.
On Jan. 28, 2020, the Loera house caught fire. While extinguishing the blaze, firefighters discovered Ana’s skeletal remains hidden in the attic the following day.
Loera’s husband, Rafael Loera, 62, reportedly admitted to authorities that he knew his wife was abusing Ana and that the child died while he was taking her to the hospital, but that he returned home and hid her body instead, according to a state fatality report. He also confessed to siphoning gasoline from his car to start the fire and to wrapping Ana’s body “in a blanket and stashed it in the attic of the home,” court records show.
Rafael Loera claimed he concealed Ana’s death because he feared losing his other children, two of whom were Ana’s siblings. Though he alleged Ana died in July 2017, investigators said witnesses had last seen her alive in 2016.
During this week’s court proceedings, Ana’s siblings described the abuse they endured in the household. “There’s this day that happened where she tried to murder me with a knife, and I still have the scars on me, and I have to deal with all of that every day,” one sibling told the judge. “I don’t think it should be fair that she’ll [be] let out, and I can’t even have my sister.”
Maribel Loera is scheduled to be formally sentenced on Oct. 19. The case against Rafael Loera remains ongoing.