ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Editor's note: This article includes disturbing details about a child's death that might be difficult for some people to read.
An Aurora woman will spend more than 80 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to killing her daughter last year.
Alexus Nelson, 28, pleaded guilty to three felony counts and was immediately sentenced on Wednesday.
Nelson pleaded guilty to:
- second-degree murder
- tampering with a deceased body
- attempt to influence a public servant
Arapahoe County District Court Judge Joseph Whitfield sentenced Nelson to 48 years on the murder charge, 24 years on the tampering charge and 12 years on the attempt to influence charge. Those are the maximum sentences on each charge.
Judge Whitfield ordered the sentences to be served consecutively, meaning Nelson's full sentence is 84 years.
According to the arrest affidavit in the case, the child's grandmother called 911 on May 30, 2023, to request police perform a welfare check on Nelson and Maha Li Hobbs, Nelson's daughter. The grandmother reported that Nelson had made "concerning statements" by text, the affidavit says.
The grandmother also said she was worried about Maha Li's safety after she had not seen her since May 3, the affidavit says.
Aurora Police went to Nelson's apartment in the 1000 block of South Elkhart Way, and Nelson told police she had given her daughter up for adoption.
When officers contacted the adoption agency that Nelson said she had used, they told police they had no contact or case file with Nelson or her daughter.
Police returned to Nelson's apartment the next day with a search warrant. While searching the apartment, a detective opened a utility closet door on the patio and recognized the smell of decomposing flesh, the affidavit says.
Inside a bag, police found the charred remains of Maha Li Hobbs, according to a release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office. Bone fragments in ashes were also found Nelson's fireplace, the DA's office said.
“There are many resources and legal ways for parents to surrender their children in the event they are unable to care for them,” senior deputy DA Kathleen Tierney said. “It’s both heartbreaking and appalling that a mother would kill her own child and then make up a bogus adoption story so family would believe the child is alive and well.”
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Investigations & Crime