US News
Mother charged in 1997 Arizona killing arrested in Mexico after 12 years
Fox News reports that Anna Marlene Somoza, 60, was arrested in Mexico after more than 12 years as a fugitive, with authorities citing cartel ties.
The short version
- Fox News reports that Anna Marlene Somoza, 60, was arrested in Mexico on first-degree murder charges.[Fox News]
- The charges stem from the January 1997 death of her 3-year-old daughter, Crystal Reyes, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.[Fox News]
- Authorities say cartel connections helped Somoza evade capture for more than 12 years, a claim reported by one outlet.[Fox News]
Key facts
- Anna Marlene Somoza, 60, was arrested in Mexico on first-degree murder charges nearly 30 years after her daughter's death.[Fox News]
- According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Crystal Reyes, 3, was bound, suffocated with a towel, and left in a sealed cardboard box on Jan. 30, 1997.[Fox News]
- Bone fragments found in a deserted area of Arizona in November 1998 were identified as Reyes' remains through forensic DNA analysis in August 2014.[Fox News]
- Avelino Tamala, Somoza's boyfriend at the time of Reyes' death, was found guilty of Crystal's murder in 2016 and sentenced to life in prison.[Fox News]
- Somoza served eight years in federal prison following a 1999 arrest on drug- and weapon-related charges and was deported in 2008.[Fox News]
- According to the agency, Somoza was caught in Xochitepec, Mexico, on Oct. 18, after authorities learned in early September that she was evading detection in Cuernavaca.[Fox News]
What remains uncertain
- Authorities attribute Somoza's more than 12 years as a fugitive to cartel connections, and the reporting does not independently confirm that account.[Fox News]
- Reporting describes the arresting officers inconsistently, with one account citing U.S. law enforcement and another citing Mexican law enforcement.[Fox News]
Sources
Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.