An Arizona woman is facing decades in prison after admitting to killing her 9-year-old adopted daughter, concealing the girl’s remains in the family’s attic for years, and later setting the house ablaze in what investigators say was an attempt to destroy evidence.
On Sept. 22, Maribel Loera, 57, entered a plea agreement on one count of second-degree murder, one count of concealing a body, and several counts of child abuse connected to the death of her daughter, Ana Loera.
Early reports had pegged the girl’s age at 13, based on estimates made when her remains were first found in January 2020. Later analysis lowered that estimate to 9 years old.
Under the plea deal, Loera will serve as much as 32 years in state prison, with 22 of those years designated as “flat time” — meaning no credit or parole can shorten that portion of the sentence. She’ll also be under lifetime supervision once released, according to a courtroom account from Phoenix Fox affiliate KSAZ.
The case first came to light on Jan. 20, 2020, when officers were sent to check on an 11-year-old girl who had been left alone in the Loera household, Law&Crime previously reported. The girl told police she’d been abused and neglected by her parents, prompting the Department of Child Safety to remove her from the home.
That same day, the 11-year-old had called 911 herself, saying she’d gone hungry and been left alone for days, the Arizona Republic reported. She also told investigators that Loera had beaten her with knotted extension cords and slammed her head against walls, among other abuse, according to the Associated Press.
From there, the case widened quickly. Child welfare workers soon removed two younger children from the same residence.
Then, on Jan. 28, 2020, the Loera home caught fire. Firefighters responding to the blaze discovered skeletal remains hidden in the attic the following day — remains later identified as Ana’s.
Authorities say the girl’s father, Rafael Loera, 62, was cooperative once questioned about his daughter’s death and the effort to hide it.
“On August 3, 2020, the Maricopa County Superior Court found that the father, Rafael Loera, admitted to knowing Anna was being abused by her mother, Maribel Loera, and that the child died while he was taking her to the hospital, however, he returned to the home and hid the child in the attic,” a state fatality report states.
According to court records obtained by Phoenix NBC affiliate KPNX, Rafael Loera admitted to siphoning gasoline from his vehicle to burn down the house. He also reportedly confessed to wrapping his daughter’s body in a blanket and hiding it in the attic.
Investigators say Rafael Loera told them Ana grew ill in the summer of 2017, and that he waited several days before attempting to get her medical help. While driving her to a doctor, she reportedly began convulsing and vomiting, and died before they reached a hospital.
He allegedly said he avoided reporting her death because he feared losing custody of his other children — two of whom were Ana’s siblings — and chose instead to hide her remains. Though he claimed Ana died in July 2017, investigators noted that witnesses had reported seeing her alive as recently as 2016.
During this week’s court proceedings, Ana’s siblings described some of what they endured in the Loera home, according to KSAZ.
“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, referring to Maribel Loera. “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 open.
