Phoenix mom who suffocated kids and staged their bodies on a couch is sentenced
02/14/2025 2:10 pm PST
PHOENIX (TCN) -- A 27-year-old mother will spend the rest of her life behind bars for killing her three children several years ago and staging their bodies on a couch to make it seem like they were asleep.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced Feb. 4 that Rachel Henry was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and dangerous crime against children.
On Jan. 20, 2020, the victims’ great-aunt called Phoenix Police and reported that the children were deceased inside a residence near 24th Street and Baseline Road. KSAZ-TV identified the victims as 3-year-old Zane Henry, 23-month-old Miraya Henry, and 7-month-old Catalaya Rios.
According to KTVK-TV, Rachel Henry was heard on bodycam footage telling officers, "I put them down to take a nap, and I didn’t check on them, and I thought they were sleeping."
However, prosecutors said Henry eventually admitted to authorities that she suffocated her kids "one by one." Henry reportedly told detectives she put her "hand over her 1-year-old daughter’s mouth as they were playing and held it there until she was dead."
The defendant’s 3-year-old son noticed and tried to intervene by hitting and yelling at his mother. According to the attorney’s office, Henry then tried to grab her son, but the children’s father and great-aunt arrived, stopping her. Henry reportedly said she was going to put her son down for a nap before she brought him to a bedroom, "sang him a lullaby," and "suffocated him as the boy fought back."
After killing her son, Henry allegedly fed her 7-month-old daughter a bottle until she fell asleep and then placed her hand over her baby’s face until she stopped breathing. Prosecutors said Henry staged the children on a couch "so it would appear they were sleeping."
County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said, "I’ve dedicated my career to protecting children, and it’s hard to comprehend how any parent could take the life of their own. Thank you to the prosecution team for ensuring justice was served for these three innocent children."
MORE:
