Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) is a key character in the first seven seasons of the Dexter television series. She is ambitious, resourceful, and extremely skilled in her career. LaGuerta is also a shrewd political animal who knows the inner workings of Miami Metro Homicide and how to play the game to quickly ascend the ranks.
In the first two seasons of the show, she led the majority of the investigations. Officers such as Sergeant James Doakes and Angel Batista undertake the detective work while she handles the political side of the investigations.
Her relationship with Debra is initially adversarial, but it develops during the series. LaGuerta is one of the few police officers who realizes Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher and pays the price with her life. We've got you covered if you're wondering how she died in ‘Dexter,' and who killed her.
How Did Maria LaGuerta Die?
Mara LaGuerta is not the most endearing character on ‘Dexter,' but everyone agrees that she is an outstanding police officer. Throughout the story, she marries and divorces Angel Batista. She also has a good friendship with Doakes.
She refuses to believe he is the Bay Harbor Butcher after his death. LaGuerta discovers a blood slide while investigating Travis Marshall's murder. She visits a private institution and determines that the sample is Marshall's.
From this moment forward, she believes Doakes is innocent and that the true Bay Harbor Butcher is still alive and, well, guilty for Marshall's death.
LaGuerta eventually homes in on Dexter and persuades Thomas Matthews to assist her in exchange for the reinstatement of his 40-year pension plan. She later arranges the release of Hector Estrada, the drug lord who murdered Dexter's mother, intending to use him as bait against Dexter.
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LaGuerta arrests Dexter, mistakenly believing he has already slain Estrada. She is later accused of attempting to frame Dexter.
A gunshot wound kills Mara LaGuerta. She discovers the truth about Dexter and comes the closest to bringing him to justice before Angela. Her preoccupation with Dexter, like Doakes', proves to be her undoing.
Who killed Maria LaGuerta?
As LaGuerta continues his investigation into the Bay Harbor butcher, Dexter reluctantly believes that killing her is the best option. He devises a scheme to murder both Estrada and LaGuerta and then stage the scene so that it appears like they have killed each other.
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However, Debra comes before he can do so. As the siblings dispute, LaGuerta awakens because Dexter gave her a lower-than-usual dose and tries to persuade Debra to kill her brother. Instead, Debra murders her to keep Dexter's secrets safe.