Overview
- Flagstaff police, responding Sunday morning to a 911 call at a La Quinta Inn, found a 17-month-old boy in a clear bin inside the room’s freezer.
- The child’s mother, 31-year-old Ochra Manakaja, was arrested and booked on first-degree murder, child abuse, and concealment of a deceased body, with bond set at $1 million cash-only.
- According to court documents, Manakaja told a dispatcher “I killed him,” then told police she had thrown the boy into a crib on April 29, did not seek medical care as he worsened, and later stored his body in the freezer for about two weeks.
- Two other boys, ages 7 and 9, were found unharmed in the room and have been removed to safety under a court order that bars Manakaja from contacting them.
- The cause and manner of death remain pending with the medical examiner, and police say they are not seeking other suspects as the investigation continues.