A mother’s brief call became the starting point for a Flagstaff homicide case.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A short 911 call from a hotel room set off a homicide investigation that ended with a 21-count indictment against a Flagstaff mother accused of killing her toddler son and hiding his body for weeks.
The call came the morning of May 17 from a La Quinta Inn and Suites near Huntington Road and Bronco Way. Police said Ochra Manakaja, later listed by county officials as 32, told a dispatcher that her child was dead. When asked what happened, she said, “I killed him,” then hung up, according to court records described by investigators. Within minutes, officers were sent to the hotel just south of Interstate 40, where they would find the child and two other children in the same room.
Police entered a room that held three children’s lives in sharply different conditions. The toddler was dead and frozen, wrapped and placed inside a clear plastic box, according to court documents. His two older brothers, ages 7 and 9, were present but physically unharmed, police said. Officers removed them from the room and took Manakaja into custody. Investigators later said the older children had been told their baby brother was at a hospital or a doctor’s office during the period when his body was allegedly being kept in a freezer.
The child had been missing from daily life for more than two weeks before police arrived, according to the timeline in court records. Investigators said Manakaja reported that the first violent act happened April 29, when she became frustrated because the toddler was crying and fussy. She allegedly told police she threw him into his crib. After that, she said, he stopped acting like himself. He vomited, ate less, appeared weak and pale, and later developed a fever. Those symptoms became key to the investigation because police said no medical help was sought while the child’s condition worsened.
Manakaja allegedly told detectives she did not call a doctor, relatives or emergency services because she feared legal trouble. She had criminal history and was on probation for a DUI matter, according to reports citing court documents. Investigators said the toddler was found unresponsive on May 1, after the older children had gone to school. He was lying face up with his eyes closed and was not breathing. Manakaja said she tried a cold rag to wake him, but the effort failed. She later told police the child did not deserve to die and said she had made a grave mistake.
The same day the toddler was found unresponsive, Manakaja had a required appointment for testing linked to her probation, according to the court account. She told police she did not want to leave but went anyway. She said the toddler had been dead for two to three hours before she left. When she returned, investigators said, she wrapped him in a blanket, covered him in plastic, secured the wrapping with tape and placed him in the freezer. Court records said duct tape was placed around the freezer door because she did not want him to smell.
The discovery at the hotel did not stay a three-charge arrest for long. Flagstaff police first booked Manakaja on suspicion of first-degree murder, child abuse and concealment of a deceased body. Four days later, on May 21, a Coconino County grand jury returned a 21-count indictment. The County Attorney’s Office announced the indictment May 22. The charges include first-degree felony murder, second-degree murder, two serious child abuse counts, 16 additional child abuse counts and one count tied to abandonment or concealment of a dead body.
The wider indictment points to a case built around more than the moment of death. Prosecutors are also alleging a pattern of child abuse, including conduct not listed as likely to cause death or serious physical injury. The public record released so far does not spell out each count in detail, and the indictment remains an accusation. Manakaja has not been convicted. Still, the number of counts shows prosecutors are examining the days before and after the child stopped breathing, including the alleged failure to seek care, the storage of the body and the presence of the older children.
Another part of the case reaches back to December 2024, when Arizona’s Department of Child Safety received a report involving the family, according to statements described in local coverage. The agency determined the child was unsafe and obtained court authorization to take custody. After the removal, the mother’s tribe asserted jurisdiction and assumed custody of the child. That history has raised questions about how the child moved between state and tribal authority before his death. Public reports have not identified the tribe or detailed later custody decisions.
The medical side of the case remains unfinished in public view. The child’s body temperature was reported at about 26 degrees when officers found him, and investigators described the body as frozen. A final medical examiner finding on the cause of death had not been publicly released in the reports reviewed. That finding may affect how prosecutors argue the murder counts and how defense attorneys challenge the state’s theory. Police have said they are not seeking other suspects, keeping the focus on the evidence gathered from the room, the 911 call and Manakaja’s alleged statements.
Manakaja was held in the Coconino County Jail after her arrest, with earlier reports listing bond at $1 million cash-only and no contact with her surviving children. The case now moves through Superior Court, where prosecutors must turn allegations from the hotel room and court documents into proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.