When Rachel Henry and her partner, Pedro Rios, moved from Nebraska to Arizona in late 2019, they quickly ended up without a home, living on the streets with their three young children: Zane, 3; Maraya, 2; and 7-month-old Catalaya.
At first, the family stayed with Pedro’s aunt, Pearl Rebolledo Velazco. But after a short time, Pearl told investigators she became frustrated with the couple’s behavior and what she described as Rachel’s persistent stealing, and she asked them to leave.
Pearl said she kept that boundary for about five weeks. As winter arrived and temperatures dropped, however, she began to worry about how the couple would care for the children while living outdoors and whether the kids would even survive such conditions. Concerned for their safety, she decided to let them move back in.
She had no idea what would soon happen inside her home.
On Jan. 20, 2020, Pearl called authorities to report that “three children under the age of three years old were found deceased” inside her rental house, according to a Phoenix Police Department incident report. When officers arrived, they confirmed that all three children were dead and immediately focused on the adults living in the home.
That night, Pearl, Rachel, and Pedro were all taken to police headquarters for questioning. Pearl explained that she had been helping care for the children because she was their father’s aunt, and that Pedro lived there with his girlfriend Rachel, the children’s mother.
Pearl described Rachel as “a kleptomaniac” who would steal “everything and anything,” according to the report. She also told detectives repeatedly that she suspected the children might have died because Rachel had overmedicated them.
Investigators soon learned that was not the case. During her own interview, Rachel admitted she had killed all three of her children, according to the report.
Rachel told detectives that her first victim was her nearly 2-year-old daughter, Maraya. She said the two had been playing a game she called “dog pile” when she lay on top of the toddler and felt her breathing become restricted. Rachel then intentionally blocked her daughter’s breathing by covering her nose and mouth with her hand, the report states.
She later said she realized Maraya was dead when the little girl “stopped kicking,” according to the report. Rachel then covered her daughter’s body with a blanket and “tucked her in,” arranging her to look as though she had simply fallen asleep.
Rachel told police she then turned to her oldest child, Zane.
She said Zane tried to intervene while she was smothering his sister, first by kicking and yelling “no,” and later by punching her, according to the report. Rachel said she was chasing Zane when Pedro came home from work. She allowed father and son to spend some time together and let Zane have a snack, then told him it was time to change his underwear.
Rachel took Zane to a bedroom, where she wrapped her legs around him and placed her hand over his nose and mouth, holding it there until he stopped breathing, the report says.
As he fought for his life, Zane scratched, pinched, and punched his mother, according to investigators. Rachel said she began singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” to cover the sounds so Pedro wouldn’t hear what was happening.
Once Zane was dead, Rachel wrapped him in a blanket just as she had done with his sister and placed his body on the couch next to Maraya, in front of Pedro, who believed both of his children were napping.
Rachel then walked over, took 7-month-old Catalaya from Pedro’s arms, and carried her into the bedroom.
She prepared a bottle of formula for the baby and fed her while singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and then “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” according to the report. When the infant drifted off to sleep, Rachel said she smothered her as well, then wrapped her in a blanket and laid her on the same couch as her siblings.
Pedro told police that shortly after Rachel put the baby on the couch, he decided to lie down and nap too. About four hours later, he said he woke up and, at Pearl’s suggestion, called his great-grandmother.
During their video call, Pedro’s great-grandmother asked to see the children. Pedro told investigators he quietly walked over to the couch and quickly realized that none of the kids were breathing.
At that moment, Rachel and Pearl came back to the house.
Pearl said Pedro ran outside in a panic, and once she understood what had happened, she ordered Rachel to call 911. According to Pearl, Rachel refused, so Pearl made the emergency call herself.
Within hours, Rachel was placed under arrest and booked into jail. At her initial court appearance the next day, she complained about her bail being set at $3 million, asking the judge, “How will I be able to get any money? I don’t have a job or anything.”
She never posted bail. Instead, she eventually reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, admitting guilt to three counts of first-degree murder in exchange for the state taking the death penalty off the table.
In February 2025, five years after the killings, a judge sentenced Rachel Henry to spend the rest of her natural life in prison.
