Silvia Meraz Moreno was born in 1968 in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. She lived in poverty in a marginalized neighborhood of Nacozari de García Municipality in Sonora. At 16, she gave birth to her first child, Ramón Omar Palacios Meraz. She had three more children with her first husband, Martín Barrón López: Iván Martín, Francisca Magdalena, and Georgina Guadalupe Barrón Meraz. At 29, she had her last daughter, Silvia Yahaira, whose father's identity is unknown. At the time of the murders, Silvia was in a relationship with Eduardo Sánchez Urrieta, five years her junior, who had a son from a previous relationship named Martín Ríos Sánchez-Urrieta.

At some point, Meraz became convinced that she could receive economic favors by offering human sacrifices to Santa Muerte. Motivated by these beliefs, she orchestrated the murders with the complicity of her family to win Santa Muerte's favor. Meraz gained the following of eight family members, including four of her five children: Ramón Omar, Francisca Magdalena, Georgina Guadalupe, and Silvia Yahaira; her father Cipriano Meraz; her partner Eduardo Sánchez; and a woman named Zoyla Hada Santacruz Iriqui. ​

The first victim was Meraz's 55-year-old friend, Cleotilde Romero Pacheco, who was found dead in December 2009. Cleotilde was a local woman who sold popsicles and had no close relatives. Meraz later recounted that she had told Cleotilde to pick up a 20-peso note off the ground, and when she bent down to pick it up, Meraz struck her in the neck with an ax. She made an offering of the victim's blood to obtain protection from Santa Muerte and later burned and buried the decapitated corpse near the family home.

The second victim was 10-year-old Martín Ríos Chaparro, biological son of Eduardo Sánchez and adopted son of Meraz. He was murdered in June 2010. Meraz recalled that she had gotten the boy drunk, and her youngest daughter—age 13 at the time—stabbed him at least 30 times. In a ritual held while he was still alive, his veins were cut, and his blood was spread around an altar.

The final victim was Jesús Octavio Martínez Yáñez, another 10-year-old boy. Jesús was the adopted son of Iván Martín Barrón Meraz, and therefore Meraz's grandson. He was murdered in July 2010. In this crime, Meraz held the boy in front of the altar while one of her daughters slaughtered him. A statement by prosecutors indicated that three children aged five, two, and one were involved in some way, at the very least witnessing the murder. ​

The investigation began after Jesús Martínez was reported missing by his mother and her boyfriend. After two years of investigation, the Meraz family was implicated in the crime, as the body of Jesús was found under the floor of Meraz's youngest daughter's bedroom. The other two bodies were found in an unpopulated area northeast of Nacozari near Meraz's house. The state police discovered the bodies during an unrelated investigation. Silvia Meraz and the other seven involved were arrested in March 2012. Meraz received a prison sentence totaling 180 years. The rest of the cult members were sentenced to 60 years in prison, while the youngest daughter was sent to a youth detention center. According to psychological evaluations, the girl—who was 15 years old at the time of the murders and a member of the cult from an early age—appeared to consider such practices as normal.