Aurora woman sentenced to 84 years after daughter’s remains were found in her apartment

An Aurora woman has been sentenced to 84 years in prison for the murder of her 5-year-old daughter, whose body she burned in the fireplace.

“While there is no way to fully comprehend what turned this mother into a monster, she deserves to spend several decades behind bars for the unspeakable crime she committed,” said District Attorney John Kellner.

Alexus Nelson, 28, was sentenced after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, tampering with a deceased body, and attempting to influence a public servant. The sentence was part of a plea deal following her arrest a year ago in connection with the disappearance of her 5-year-old daughter, Maha Li Hobbs.

The case began on May 29, 2023, when Nelson’s mother alerted authorities after receiving alarming text messages from her daughter, as reported by Sentinel Colorado.

“The caller also raised concerns about the safety of their granddaughter,” the release said.

Officers visited Nelson’s apartment on South Elkhart Way, where she claimed to have given her daughter up for adoption but failed to provide documentation. Nelson insisted the adoption was legal and done a month earlier, stating she did not want her mother to know the child’s whereabouts, according to an arrest affidavit.

Nelson claimed to have worked with Adoptions with Love for her daughter’s adoption but provided no records, and the agency director confirmed no contact with her. The Internet Crimes Against Children unit then contacted Nelson, who told detectives she felt unable to provide for her daughter which prompted her to opt for the supposed adoption, according to the affidavit.

After being informed that Adoptions with Love had no record of her, Nelson permitted police to search her phone, but detectives found no evidence of an adoption transaction. The girl’s father, who lives out of state, reported not having seen his daughter in about two years.

A maintenance worker at Nelson’s apartment complex told police that the second bedroom was locked, with a rope connected from its door to the bathroom door across the hall.

“It appears that someone was trying to keep someone else locked in the bedroom door,” the affidavit said. “He noticed children’s toys in the apartment but did not hear anyone inside that bedroom.”

“Police obtained a search warrant for Nelson’s apartment,” 18th Judicial District officials said in a statement after the conviction Wednesday. “Upon opening a utility closet door on the apartment’s patio, a detective recognized the odor of decomposing flesh. Inside a bag, detectives found the charred human remains of Nelson’s daughter. Bone fragments in ashes were also located inside Nelson’s fireplace.”

Prosecutors did not disclose details about how the girl was killed.

“While we were fully prepared to take this case to trial, this plea protects Maha Li’s family from having to listen to painful, horrific, and gruesome testimony,” Chief Deputy DA Chris Gallo said in a statement. “Detectives with the Aurora Police Department were able to quickly punch holes in the defendant’s story which ultimately helped us quickly solve this case and bring justice to Maha Li’s family.”