Rachel Henry sentenced to life in prison for smothering her 3 kids in 2020

PHOENIX — A woman who killed her three children in Phoenix five years ago was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, avoiding a possible death penalty.

Rachel Henry, 27, learned her fate two months after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder on Dec. 12, 2024.

Prosecutors said Rachel Henry could face death penalty

Henry was 22 when she was arrested on Jan. 20, 2020. After she entered an initial plea of not guilty, prosecutors said they would pursue the death penalty.

Henry was living with her aunt near 24th Street and Baseline Road when she smothered her 3-year-old boy, 1-year-old girl and 7-month-old girl.

According to court documents, she admitted to suffocating her children one by one while she sang to them.

Witnesses told police Henry had a methamphetamine addiction and had recently been acting strange, according to court documents.

Police said the family had recently moved to Arizona from Oklahoma.

“I’ve dedicated my career to protecting children, and it’s hard to comprehend how any parent could take the life of their own,” County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a press release Friday. “Thank you to the prosecution team for ensuring justice was served for these three innocent children.”

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