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 Name:
Maria Esperanza del Alma LaGuerta
Portrayed by:
Lauren Vélez
Age: mid 40's
Height: 5'4 1/2"
Hair: dark brown/black
Eyes: Brown
Occupation: Lieutenant, detective in charge of
the Homicide department at the Miami Metro Police.
Family:
- Angel Batista, husband
- Ally Batista, step-daughter
- the rest of the family is unknown but has
been mentioned they are in Cuba
History:
Lieutenant Maria Esperanza del Alma LaGuerta is a
tough, determined woman in command of the Homicide
division who is not above making her subordinates
feel intimidated. At first she had a sincere dislike
for Debra which in later on all but disappeared.
While at the same time she made no secret of her
attraction to Dexter, with whom she flirted
constantly, to his discomfort. She is removed
from command for political reasons and is replaced
by another woman, Esme Pasquale. Esme proves to be
unstable (a state LaGuerta contributes to by having
an affair with Pasquale's fiance). LaGuerta returns
to being in charge of the Homicide department after
Esme has a breakdown in the middle of the office.
When her friend, former partner and former
lover James Doakes becomes the prime suspect in the
Bay Harbor Butcher case, she tries to clear his
name. She learns from a questionable source of two
Special Forces missions Doakes took part in that
directly conflicted with the deaths of two Butcher
victims. However, Doakes is found dead in a
seemingly accidental explosion, along with the body
of drug dealer Jose Garza, and the case is closed.
The evidence LaGuerta finds is ignored. After his
death, LaGuerta starts a memorial fund for him,
asking police officers for donations, and refuses to
think of her deceased friend as a serial killer.
As she recovers from the trauma of Doakes'
death, she leads an investigation into the murder of
Oscar Prado, the brother of her ex-boyfriend and
longtime friend Miguel Prado. She also develops a
close relationship with defense attorney Ellen Wolf,
and is devastated when Wolf is found murdered. But
through the help of some personal investigative
work, along with Dexter's input, she was able to
discover that Miguel was Wolf's killer. She confides
in Dexter, as he is the "only other one who knows."
After Miguel's own murder (ostensibly at the hands
of the Skinner, but in reality by Dexter), she
becomes distraught that the Cuban community is
thinking about naming a highway after Miguel. She
wants to find admissible evidence to prove he killed
Wolf, but Dexter is able to convinces her to let it
go since it would devastate far too many people. She
agrees although she hates to let it go.
Meanwhile she becomes romantically involved with
Angel. This fact, however, is kept hidden from the
rest of the staff within the homicide department,
aside from Dexter, who both Angel and LaGuerta
confide in. Their relationship hits a roadblock when
she tells their superiors about their relationship
so that it cannot be used against them during a
trial. The consequence of her disclosure is a threat
of reassignment; either Angel or LaGuerta will have
to move out of Homicide. Deciding that their jobs
are integral parts of who they both are, the two
decide to end their relationship, and sign
affidavits to that effect. Staying away from each
other does not prove easy, however, and they begin
having secret liaisons once more. Unfortunately for
them their boss finds out and threatens to have
their careers ruined. In order to circumvent a
reprimand from higher up, and also as a result of
their deepening feelings for one another, they
secretly get married with Dexter as witness.
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