Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Raona Mora pleaded guilty to negligent homicide for her 4-month-old's death.
- Originally charged with aggravated murder, Mora pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and received probation.
- Mora and her husband also pleaded guilty to child endangerment for drug exposure.
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain mother charged with causing the death of her 4-month-old baby has pleaded guilty to negligent homicide.
Raona Dorothy Mora, 33, was originally charged in 4th District Court on Sept. 30, 2024, with child abuse homicide, a first-degree felony; plus marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors. Less than a week later, however, the Utah County Attorney's Office filed amended information charging Mora with aggravated murder, a capital offense.
The charges stemmed from a Sept. 24, 2024, incident when a 4-month-old child died at Primary Children's Hospital.
Mora originally told police that she had fallen asleep while holding the infant and then fell off the bed and landed on top of him. However, doctors told investigators that there was "no possibility that the extensive and life-ending injuries sustained by the 4-month-old baby boy could have resulted from the reported circumstances from Mrs. Raona Mora," court documents state.
According to the charges, Mora "struck her 4-month-old child in the head hard enough to leave a visible indentation and cause fractures throughout the child's skull. Almost immediately, there was blood coming from the child's ear, and the child became unresponsive."
On Nov. 12, Mora pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor. The two drug charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
"The state indicates that after consulting with multiple experts and based upon state laws, they can only charge the defendant with a class A misdemeanor instead of the original charge of an aggravated homicide," a court sentencing document states.
Mora was sentenced last week to a year in jail, but the term was suspended. The court ordered her to serve two years on probation, during which she must obtain a substance abuse evaluation, comply with recommended treatment and complete a court-ordered parenting class.
While searching the Rodriguez residence after the infant's death, police noted marijuana paraphernalia was in plain view, including marijuana "wax" located in the room where the couple's older son sleeps in the attached bathroom.
Police tested the 8-year-old boy and his 12-year-old sister for the possible presence of drugs in their systems. The girl's results came back as clean. The boy, however, had positive results for THC metabolite, meaning he had been exposed to or had sufficient contact with marijuana that it was prevalent in his body, according to police.
Mora and her husband, Jose Miguel Mora Rodriguez, were each charged in a separate case on Oct. 15, 2024, with child endangerment for exposing their child to drugs.
Both pleaded guilty last month to the charges in 4th District Court. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 11, for which the recommended sentence is a term of zero to five years in prison.
