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Rachel Henry sentenced to life for kids' murders
Rachel Henry, who pleaded guilty in December to three murder charges in connection with her kids' deaths, will spend the rest of her life behind bars for her role in what happened. FOX 10 Investigator Justin Lum reports.
PHOENIX - A woman who admitted to killing her three children five years ago learned her fate in court on Feb. 14.
Rachel Henry, who pleaded guilty to premeditated first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.
Rachel Henry: Phoenix woman pleads guilty to suffocating children with pillows
Rachel Henry, a woman who was accused of smothering her three children back in 2020, has changed her plea in court.
Children were slain in 2020
The backstory:
The case involving Henry began in January 2020. Phoenix Police said officers were sent to Henry's home near 24th Street and Southern Avenue after a woman called 911 saying three kids were dead.
The children were later identified as 3-year-old Zane Henry, 23-month-old Miraya Henry and 7-month-old Catalaya Rios.
"I put them down for a nap and thought that they were sleeping," Henry said, in an initial encounter with police officers that was captured by a body camera video.
Police said Henry later admitted during an interview to smothering each of the victims, and placing them in a position on the living room couch as if they were taking a nap.
Prosecutors recalled how those who first responded to the scene are still traumatized by what happened.
What they're saying:
"Some of the personnel, the first responders, are still in therapy and have been affected by what happened, even though this was five years ago," said Christopher Sammons. "The defendant is obviously going to prison for the rest of her life because she did the unthinkable in this case, judge. She had a duty to protect her children from anyone or anything who would try to harm them. But unfortunately, in this case, she was that thing."