PHOENIX — A Phoenix woman who pleaded guilty to murdering her three young children in 2020 has been sentenced to natural life in prison.
Rachel Henry, 27, changed her not-guilty plea, which she originally entered in 2020, to guilty toward the end of 2024 for three charges of first-degree murder.
During a Friday morning sentencing hearing, she was sentenced to three consecutive terms of natural life in prison, one for each charge.
Henry was arrested on Jan. 21, 2020, after three children were found unresponsive in their home near 24th Street and Southern Avenue.
State prosecutors said it’s “hard to find anyone who had a role in this case that hasn’t been affected by it.” Initial calls to firefighters were thought to be a drowning until they saw three dead children lying together in the house. Some of the law enforcement, firefighters and legal teams involved needed therapy after working the case, according to state prosecutors.
Video in the player above includes previous coverage of the case.
According to court paperwork, Henry told police that she suffocated the children and laid them on the couch to make it look like they were sleeping.
The children were 7-month-old Catalaya Kyeana Rios, 1-year-old Mireya Henry, and 3-year-old Zane Henry.
MORE: Records show troubled history with Rachel Henry
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop the request for the death penalty. Henry will not be given the possibility of parole as part of the agreement.
In a statement before the court, the defense team said the sentence of life in prison is appropriate and Henry is ready to make up for it by spending the rest of her life at a corrections facility and she “sorrowfully” accepts her future.
Her defense attorney said they may never fully understand what Henry did, partially because she can’t remember. However, the defense said factors like postpartum depression, an alcohol disorder, her “social history” and a “lack of support” all were factors in her actions that day.
Henry, wearing a mask and orange jumpsuit with shackles around her ankles, declined to speak before the court when given the chance Friday.
A restitution hearing for $30k was requested by State prosecutors. That’s set for April 4 at 11 a.m. Henry is not expected to be there.
