Mother of missing 5-year-old sentenced to 84 years after charred remains found

DENVER (KDVR) — A woman pleaded guilty to three charges ahead of a jury trial scheduled for later this year, leading to her sentencing on Wednesday in her 5-year-old daughter’s death.

The girl’s remains were found in an Aurora apartment in 2023.

Alexus Nelson, 28, was found guilty of second-degree murder, tampering with a deceased body and attempting to influence a public servant. She was sentenced on Wednesday to 48 years, 24 years and 12 years for those charges, respectively, and the sentences will run consecutively.

Two charges were dropped due to a plea, according to court documents: child abuse knowingly causing death, and first-degree murder of a victim under 12 and in a position of trust. Because Nelson agreed to plead guilty under a plea agreement, she is not eligible for an appeal.

“This mother knew about available adoption programs that could have cared for this 5-year-old but instead, she chose murder,” District Attorney John Kellner said in a release. “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.”

Case began with welfare check in 2023

The case began in May 2023 when the 5-year-old girl’s grandmother asked the Aurora Police Department to conduct a welfare check on her granddaughter and Nelson after hearing that Nelson may have given the child up for adoption. According to an arrest affidavit, Nelson told officers that she had completed a “closed adoption” through a Colorado adoption agency.

Officers contacted two agencies that Nelson could have used to facilitate an adoption, but no legal adoption records could be found. At that time, Nelson also allowed detectives to look through the photographs on her phone, but “it became immediately apparent that there were no pictures of (the child) in her phone,” according to the affidavit.

“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 in a release. “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.”

After that, officers obtained a search warrant for the apartment and found that the unit was “completely empty and the carpet was extremely dirty with various stains of unknown origin,” according to the arrest affidavit. Officers also reported they found a closet with “various children’s items” and a “large shopping bag that contained a plastic bag inside.”

They also obtained a search warrant for Nelson’s phone which had searches from earlier that month reading “can you overdose from melatonin?” and “can you overdose from Xanax?” Detectives also said that there were videos including the child on her camera roll where she seemed to be saying goodbye to family.

After investigating the contents of the bag, investigators found that they were charred human remains. They also found bone fragments inside the fireplace of Nelson’s apartment unit.

According to the affidavit, the last time anyone saw the 5-year-old alive was on May 2, 2023, in video phone calls with Nelson’s family.

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