True Crime
U.S. Marshals say Anna Marlene Somoza was detained in Mexico after more than a decade as a fugitive in her daughter's 1997 killing.
Somoza, 60, was taken into custody Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, in Xochitepec, Mexico, ABC15 and KTAR report, citing the U.S. Marshals Service. She faces a first-degree murder charge in Arizona in the death of her daughter, a 4-year-old girl, whose remains were identified in 2014. Extradition efforts are underway; she has not been tried on the murder charge.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
A detention in Mexico is custody, not a conviction on the Arizona murder indictment. A 4-year-old girl went unidentified for nearly 16 years after her remains were found near Mobile, Arizona. Co-defendant Avelino Tamala was already convicted in 2016 and sentenced to life. The Marshals' job now is getting Somoza back into an Arizona courtroom.
Agents with Mexico's attorney general's office and security forces detained Anna Marlene Somoza, 60, on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, in Xochitepec, Mexico, ABC15 and KTAR reported, citing the U.S. Marshals Service. The Marshals said the arrest was coordinated with Interpol. Somoza fled after a Maricopa County grand jury indicted her and her boyfriend, Avelino Tamala, in December 2014 on a first-degree murder charge in the 1997 death of her daughter, a 4-year-old girl. Efforts to extradite her are underway. She has not been tried on that charge, and no date has been announced for her return to Arizona.
A hunter found remains on Nov. 30, 1998, near Mobile, Arizona. They went unidentified until August 2014, when DNA testing identified them as the remains of a 4-year-old girl. DNA from her biological father, Darren Stockwell, helped confirm the identification. The December 2014 indictment of Somoza and Tamala followed that result.
Tamala was arrested, convicted on Nov. 8, 2016, and sentenced to life in prison. Investigators believed Somoza was in Mexico. A provisional arrest warrant was issued in October 2022 to support extradition. The Marshals designated the file a major case in 2026. A tip in September pointed to the Cuernavaca area, and the detention followed in nearby Xochitepec.
U.S. Marshal Van Bayless said the disturbing case can finally move forward with justice for the girl, ABC15 and KTAR reported. U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said his office would work with Mexican partners to bring her back to Arizona. The Phoenix Police Department thanked the Marshals and the other agencies that took part in the apprehension. The first-degree murder charge is the accusation she would face in that courtroom. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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