Overview
- Prosecutors on Thursday indicted 32-year-old Ochra Manakaja on one count of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and 18 child-abuse counts over the death of her 16-month-old son, Zion.
- Police found the toddler’s body inside a hotel-room freezer at the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Flagstaff wrapped in blanket, plastic and tape and placed in a clear container after investigators were alerted on May 17.
- Charging documents and local reports say Manakaja told a 911 dispatcher “I killed him,” wrote to a sister that she had killed and abused the child, and posted similar admissions on social media.
- Manakaja told police she threw the child into a crib on April 29, the child fell ill and was found unresponsive on May 1, and she said she hid the body in a freezer for roughly two weeks because she feared the smell and getting in trouble.
- Two other children, ages 7 and 9, were in the hotel room and were removed unharmed, Manakaja is jailed on a $1 million cash-only bond, and prosecutors say the upcoming medical examiner report will shape the case going to trial.