Maribel Loera agreed to a plea calling for 32 years in prison, while her husband’s separate criminal case remains pending.
PHOENIX — A Phoenix mother pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, concealing a body and multiple child abuse charges in a case that began after firefighters found the remains of her adopted daughter at the family’s home in 2020.
Maribel Loera entered the guilty pleas Sept. 22 in Maricopa County Superior Court. Under the plea agreement described in court reporting, Loera is expected to receive a total of 32 years in prison, followed by supervised probation on additional counts. Her formal sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16. Some reports have described the 32-year term as a sentence already imposed, but court reporting from the plea hearing says a judge must still formally approve and impose the sentence.
The case dates to January 2020, when Phoenix police went to a home near 59th Avenue and Camelback Road after an 11-year-old girl called 911 and reported being left alone. Police said the girl described neglect and abuse in the home. The Arizona Department of Child Safety took her into care, and two more children were removed from the residence eight days later.
Later on Jan. 28, firefighters responded to a fire at the house. While working inside the residence, crews encountered human remains, prompting a police investigation. Authorities later identified the remains as those of 13-year-old Ana Loera, an adopted daughter of Maribel and Rafael Loera. Police said Ana had not been seen alive for years and that the precise date of her death was unclear. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.
Older reporting identified Ana’s birth name as Charisma Marquez. Her biological mother, Priscilla Marquez, told local news outlets after the remains were found that her daughter and siblings had entered foster care and were later adopted. Early in the investigation, before authorities publicly confirmed the identification, Marquez said she believed the remains belonged to her daughter.
Authorities initially arrested Maribel and Rafael Loera on charges connected to child abuse and the concealment of Ana’s remains. In 2021, Phoenix police announced that investigators had developed probable cause to add first-degree murder charges against both parents. Maribel Loera ultimately resolved her case through the September 2026 plea agreement, admitting guilt to second-degree murder, abandonment or concealment of a dead body and nine child abuse counts.
At the Sept. 22 hearing, surviving children addressed the court about the abuse they experienced and its lasting effects, according to reporting on the proceeding. The plea agreement calls for 22 years on the second-degree murder count and another 10 years tied to several child abuse counts. Loera would receive credit for time already spent in custody and face supervised probation on remaining child abuse counts after prison.
The agreement also removes the possibility that Loera could receive the death penalty. She had originally faced a first-degree murder charge, along with numerous child abuse allegations and a charge related to concealing Ana’s body. The guilty pleas mean those admitted offenses no longer remain allegations against Maribel Loera, although the judge still must formally impose the punishment contemplated by the agreement.
Rafael Loera’s case is separate and remains unresolved. He has not entered the same plea agreement, and the charges against him remain allegations unless proven in court or admitted through a guilty plea. Court reporting says his trial is scheduled for March 2027.
The case has drawn renewed attention because of Maribel Loera’s plea and the expected prison term more than six years after the remains were discovered. It also brought renewed focus to the surviving children, whose reports of abuse helped trigger the investigation that ultimately led authorities to Ana’s remains.
Maribel Loera is scheduled to return to Maricopa County Superior Court on Oct. 16 for formal sentencing. Until the judge imposes sentence, the 32-year prison term remains the punishment contemplated by her plea agreement rather than a sentence already formally entered by the court.
Author note: Last updated September 26, 2026.