The sentence followed Maribel Loera’s guilty pleas in a case uncovered after firefighters found the child’s remains in a Phoenix attic.

PHOENIX, Az. — An Arizona woman has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for the murder of her adopted daughter and the abuse of other children in her home, bringing her portion of a case that began with a child’s 911 call and a house fire close to a legal conclusion nearly seven years after her arrest. Maribel Loera, 57, received the sentence Oct. 16 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, concealment of a body and nine counts of child abuse.

The victim has been identified in recent court coverage as 9-year-old Charisma Marquez, who was also known as Ana Loera. Her skeletal remains were found in the attic of the family’s Phoenix home in January 2020 after firefighters responded to a deliberately set fire. Earlier reports and records gave different estimates of the child’s age, including 13, but more recent reporting surrounding Loera’s plea and sentencing identified Charisma as 9. Prosecutors alleged she died years before firefighters found her remains.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Brad Astrowsky imposed 22 years for the second-degree murder conviction and another 10 years tied to four child abuse counts, according to reporting from the Arizona Republic. Loera received credit for 2,453 days already spent in jail. The sentence was accompanied by lifetime probation on other counts. The agreement resolved the case without a trial and removed the possibility that Loera could face a death sentence if convicted of the earlier first-degree murder charge.

Astrowsky described the killing as cruel and depraved and identified several factors that weighed against Loera, including the number of victims, the ages of the children and what the court viewed as a breach of trust. At the same time, the judge said he believed Loera had genuinely accepted responsibility. He noted that her statement to the court focused heavily on the harm caused to the children rather than only on the punishment she faced. Loera, speaking through an interpreter, apologized for what she described as the physical, emotional and psychological harm she had caused and asked the victims for forgiveness.

The sentencing hearing also gave surviving children a chance to describe the years of violence they said they endured inside the Loera home. Their statements described repeated beatings and other severe abuse that left lasting scars and trauma. Angelina Ariza, a surviving sister, remembered Charisma as a protective older sister who comforted the younger children and told them they would someday escape the home. Joseph Marquez, another sibling, described seeing Loera attacking Charisma during what he remembered as one of the last times he saw his sister alive. The accounts were presented as victim statements after Loera had already entered guilty pleas.

Charisma’s birth mother, Priscilla Marquez, also addressed the court and opposed the plea agreement that removed capital punishment from the case. She told the court that her daughter had lost the chance to grow up, graduate from school and reach other milestones. Marquez said she had lost custody of her children years earlier while struggling with drug addiction and believed they had been moved to a safer environment. She said she later learned through news coverage that Charisma had died. At sentencing, she spoke about the lasting guilt and grief she carried over what happened to her children after they left her custody.

The criminal investigation had begun in a very different way. On Jan. 20, 2020, Phoenix police responded to the family’s home after an 11-year-old girl called 911 and said she had been left alone and was hungry. The girl reported abuse, and the Arizona Department of Child Safety took her into protective custody. Investigators returned eight days later and removed two other children. The intervention placed new scrutiny on the household and eventually led authorities to ask questions about another child who was no longer living there.

Hours after the two younger children were removed on Jan. 28, firefighters were called to the home near 59th Avenue and Camelback Road because of a fire. During the response, firefighters discovered human skeletal remains in the attic area. Investigators later determined the remains belonged to the missing adopted girl. Phoenix fire investigators concluded the blaze was intentionally set. The discovery transformed what had begun as a child welfare investigation into a homicide case involving allegations of years of abuse, concealment and an effort to destroy the home.

Rafael Loera, Maribel Loera’s husband and a co-defendant, gave investigators an account of what happened after the child became gravely ill. Authorities said Rafael told investigators he waited several days before attempting to obtain medical care and that the girl died while he was taking her to a hospital. He said he returned to the home rather than reporting the death and concealed the body because he feared authorities would remove the other children. Investigators, however, developed a timeline that did not fully match his account. More recent prosecution allegations placed Charisma’s death sometime between May and November 2016, while Rafael had previously described events occurring in 2017.

The uncertainty surrounding the precise timing of Charisma’s death also contributed to years of differing public descriptions of her age. Initial police and media reports described the remains as those of a 13-year-old girl, based on the information available after the 2020 discovery. Later reporting connected to the prosecution and sentencing identified the child as Charisma Marquez, also known after adoption as Ana Loera, and described her as 9 years old. The conflicting historical age references remain part of the public record, but the most recent courtroom coverage consistently identified her as 9.

Police initially arrested Maribel and Rafael Loera in 2020 on child abuse and related allegations. Murder charges were filed in 2021 as investigators built the case around the child’s death and the condition of the surviving children. Maribel Loera ultimately entered her negotiated guilty pleas on Sept. 22, 2026. Reports of the agreement said it called for a total of 32 years, including a long period of imprisonment that must be served without the ordinary reductions that can apply to some sentences. Her formal Oct. 16 sentencing made that prison term final.

The sentencing did not end the broader criminal case. Rafael Loera has pleaded not guilty to charges that include murder and remains separately accused in connection with the child’s death, the concealment of her body, child abuse and the fire. Accounts based on police and court records have attributed the setting of the fire to Rafael, and those allegations have not been resolved by a trial verdict. His case is therefore legally distinct from Maribel Loera’s convictions, and the allegations against him remain allegations unless proven in court or admitted in a plea.

Rafael Loera’s trial is expected to begin in March 2027, according to the latest reporting. Maribel Loera, meanwhile, has begun serving the 32-year sentence imposed after her guilty pleas. Her sentencing closes one major part of a case that remained hidden until a child asked police for help, authorities removed other children from the home and firefighters entered the burning house where Charisma’s remains had been concealed for years.

Author note: Last updated November 9, 2026.