A fugitive mother, Anna Marlene Somoza, 60, has been apprehended in Mexico after a 12-year manhunt in connection with the 1997 murder of her four-year-old daughter, Crystal Reyes.
Somoza was arrested on Sunday in Xochitepec and faces first-degree murder charges. Reyes' remains were discovered in an Arizona desert in 1998, and authorities determined the child was killed on January 30, 1997, when alleged abuse escalated fatally. According to the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Reyes was 'bound, suffocated with a taped towel and left to die inside a sealed cardboard box.'
The case led to murder charges against Somoza and her then-boyfriend, Avelino Tamala, in 2014. Tamala was convicted of first-degree murder in 2016 and is serving a life sentence. Somoza, however, evaded capture for 12 years, a feat authorities attributed in part to her alleged 'close connections with cartels.'
"No one can hide from American justice forever," U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine for the District of Arizona stated. Task force members from the USMS identified Somoza's location in Mexico, leading to her apprehension on October 18. She now awaits extradition to Arizona.
"This disturbing case can finally move forward with justice for Crystal," said U.S. Marshal Van Bayless for the District of Arizona. "Phoenix Police Department and Maricopa County Attorney's Office showed their unrelenting desire to get Somoza into court and prison for her atrocities to an innocent beautiful little girl."
The investigation into Reyes' death began 28 years ago when a hunter discovered partial skeletal remains near Mobile, Alabama. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office recovered the remains in December 1998. Forensic DNA testing in August 2014 identified the remains as those of four-year-old Reyes, identified as the daughter of Somoza and U.S. citizen Darren Stockwell. Somoza had reportedly given birth to Reyes in Nogales, Mexico, in 1993, without filing a birth record.
Investigators learned that after a 1993 arrest for marijuana trafficking, Somoza agreed to become a confidential informant and met narcotics detective Avelino Tamala. The two reportedly engaged in an improper relationship before Tamala resigned from the Sheriff's Office in 1995. The couple then moved to Ahwatukee, Arizona, with three of Somoza's children from previous marriages, including Reyes, along with a niece and a housekeeper.
According to the USMS, the young child was subjected to severe physical abuse behind closed doors, including confinement in a dog kennel. "Throughout Crystal’s brutally-short-lived life, Somoza and Tamala repeatedly tortured, starved and abused Crystal as an infant and young girl," the agency stated. Court documents obtained by The Arizona Republic indicate that Reyes was allegedly bound, gagged, and confined to a dog crate for weeks at a time. The housekeeper reportedly told investigators that Reyes was treated differently from the other children, starved, and kept extremely thin. The abuse culminated in Reyes' death, when she was allegedly left to die in a sealed cardboard box.
Somoza's criminal history included drug trafficking along the border in the 1980s and 1990s. She and Tamala were arrested for drug and weapons offenses in 1999. DNA collected at the time, combined with later forensic analysis of the bone fragments, could not exclude Somoza as the maternal source. However, the case remained cold due to the lack of DNA from Reyes' biological father. Somoza subsequently served an eight-year federal prison sentence, was released, and deported to Mexico in 2008, while Reyes' remains had already been discovered.
Authorities continue to coordinate efforts with international agencies to facilitate Somoza's return to Arizona to face charges. The Phoenix Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s office have expressed gratitude to their law enforcement and prosecutorial partners, including those in Mexico, for their assistance in the apprehension and for ensuring the case can move forward.