PHOENIX (AZFamily) — It’s a first of its kind study to better understand an often overlooked group of people: women behind bars.

“No other jail system in the country is doing this,” said Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, director of Arizona State University’s Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research. “Many of them have offenses that are related to other people’s interference. So whether they were forced to commit that crime with someone else, they were under someone else’s control.”

Roe-Sepowitz spearheaded the effort that explores the pipeline between victimization and incarceration for Arizona women. What she uncovered was even worse than she expected.

“The scope of trauma, the sheer amount of violent experiences was a surprise to me,” she said.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Brandon Smith teamed up with Roe-Sepowitz for this project.

Since 2018, they’ve worked together to identify and support sex trafficking victims inside county jails.

“A lot of them could be they were more of a victim than a suspect in a crime,” said Smith.

In May 2025, the pair decided to dig deeper with a survey to learn more about the life history of all female inmates.

“We didn’t want to re-traumatize them. We were very careful about asking appropriate questions in the right way,” said Smith.

More than 400 women in the Estrella Jail completed the questionnaire which represents 49% of the female population.

The results show most are mothers, locked up for drug offenses.

77% reported a mental health diagnosis, more than 78% have been homeless, just over 50% have been sex trafficked, and 80% said they were victims of domestic violence.

With that knowledge, there is hope that jail programs can help break the cycle.

“We’re able to tailor programming to that in order to hopefully keep them out of jail, become more productive members of society, be with their children,” said Smith.

About 14% of participants were there for their first arrest.

New trauma-informed programs and training will soon be implemented.

“We’re looking at what can we do for that 14% that are here for the first time to hopefully make sure it’s their last time,” said Smith.

“How to build hope for the future, how to stabilize their life, how to continue the relationships they have in healthier ways,” said Roe-Sepowitz.

More research is on the way. ASU just wrapped up a similar survey in the Perryville prison and plans to conduct it again at Estrella Jail this year to collect additional data.

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• Prominent Arizona attorney Jose Cardenas possesses a large private collection of Mexican and Mexican American art.
• Cardenas, who rose from humble immigrant roots, amassed the collection with his late wife, Virginia, as an embrace of their shared Mexican heritage.
• He frequently opens his home to visitors for tours and events, sharing stories about the artwork and his life.

Prominent Arizona attorney Jose Cardenas loves to show off his vast collection of Mexican and Mexican American art.

But he once made a fool of himself arguing with the legendary Mexican journalist Elena Poniatowska over a piece of artwork on display in his spacious 4,000-square-foot Chandler home.

Cardenas was giving Poniatowska a tour of his art collection during a reception he hosted for the writer. She was in town giving a lecture at Arizona State University.

“This is a self-portrait of Siqueiros,” Cardenas remembers telling Poniatwoska, referring to David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of Mexico’s three most famous muralists.

Poniatowska took a look at the sketch and shook her head, “No it’s not.”

The two got into a back and forth, with Cardenas continuing to insist the man depicted in the painting was Siqueiros.

“That’s what they told me when I bought it at the gallery in San Francisco,” Cardenas remembers telling the Mexican author.

Finally Cardenas backed down, thinking, “She’s getting up in years. I’m not going to embarrass her and argue with her.”

A few days later, Cardenas was flipping through TV channels. He came across a PBS documentary about the 1970 Chicano riots in East Los Angeles. The documentary highlighted a portrait Siqueiros had painted in homage to Ruben Salazar, the Los Angeles Times journalist killed by a tear gas canister fired by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy during the protests.

Poniatowska was right. The figure in the painting was not Siqueiros, the Mexican muralist. It was indeed Ruben Salazar, the Los Angeles Times journalist, as painted by Siqueiros.

Cardenas tells this story when he gives tours of his art collection to visitors. They break out in laughter.

“You were mansplaining” one visitor told him. “No, I was being an idiot,” Cardenas said, “because why would you argue with her, of all people. She knew (Siqueiros). She wrote about him. She interviewed him. Not the person to say, ‘No, you are wrong.’”

Cardenas built prestigious career from humble roots

The personal art tours Cardenas hosts weekly at his home are peppered with similar stories that showcase his self-deprecating humor and highlight his enormous pride in his humble upbringing and Mexican heritage.

Cardenas comes from modest working-class Mexican immigrant roots. But he rose to become one of the most prominent and successful attorneys in Arizona. He has used his considerable wealth to amass what artists say is the largest collection of Mexican and Mexican-American artwork in the state, which he shares often with visitors during various events at his home, from personal tours to his annual post-Christmas bash.

Born in 1952, Cardenas is the son of an immigrant dad from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and a Mexican-American mom. Cardenas grew up in Vegas Heights, a working-class Hispanic neighborhood west of Las Vegas that was still segregated. His father, Fortunato Cárdenas Sánchez, had a sixth-grade education. He worked as a foreman for construction company that laid pipelines. He was killed in a work accident when Cardenas was 15.

His mother, Gloria Frances Gómez Vigil, was born in a small town in northern Nevada to Mexican immigrant parents who eventually moved to Las Vegas. She only attended school through eighth grade.

After his father died, Cardenas, the second-oldest of four children, wanted to quit school and work to help his family with finances. But Cardenas was a good student, and his mother insisted he stay in school and encouraged him to attend college.

Cardenas became the first person in his family to graduate from high school and then college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and then a law degree from Stanford.

After law school, Cardenas clerked for a federal judge in San Francisco and then moved to Arizona in 1978 to work for the powerhouse law firm Lewis and Roca. Cardenas mostly handled commercial litigation but also did pro bono work on death penalty cases. In 1999, he was named managing partner, becoming one of the few Hispanic managing partners of a major law firm in the nation.

In 2009, Cardenas left Lewis and Roca to serve as chief legal adviser and senior vice president at Arizona State University, a position he held until 2022.

For nearly 20 years, Cardenas also hosted Horizonte, a public affairs show focusing on Arizona issues through a Hispanic perspective on Arizona PBS (KAET-TV Channel 8). He stepped down in 2023. Now semi-retired, the 73-year-old Cardenas continues to serve as special senior university adviser at ASU.

Cardenas and his Mexican-born wife, Virginia, were childhood sweethearts. When Virginia turned 15, Cardenas was one of the escorts in her quinceañera coming-of-age celebration. The two then began dating in ninth grade. They married when Cardenas was 19 and Virginia was 20 by one month. She worked as a counselor at Chandler High School. She died in July 2012 of kidney cancer.

Cardenas and Virginia bought their first artwork when he was still a financially struggling law student at Stanford. The two prints Cardenas purchased from a fellow student are now among the thousands of pieces of artwork that adorn his home.

Couple made frequent trips to purchase art

Cardenas said he and Virginia were introduced to the world of Mexican and Mexican American art when they moved to Arizona and met artists Zarco and Carmen Guerrero at a party. They are the founders of Xicanindio, the original name of Xico, a nonprofit organization that promotes Latino and Indigenous art and culture.

A winter storm sweeping across the state was dumping snow and whipping up gusty winds in northern Arizona, forcing multiple highway closures and travel advisories throughout the region. 

Snow moved into the high country early Jan. 8 and was expected to continue through the afternoon and evening. Flagstaff had picked up 2 to 4 inches, with snow reaching lower elevations, including Prescott and Sedona, according to the National Weather Service in Flagstaff. 

“In our area we expect it to come to an end here later this afternoon and early this evening, with only an inch or two more here in the Flagstaff area,” said Brian Klimowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Flagstaff. “It’s going to continue this evening and overnight to our east.” 

Snow levels dropped as a cold front moved into the region, falling from about 6,000 feet at sunrise to as low as 4,000 feet by late evening. Forecasters say heavier snow was likely this afternoon and evening as the system moves through.

“Roads are bad right now,” Klimowski said. “The highways will be very slick, and we expect conditions will remain in a deteriorated state here this afternoon to this evening, especially along and east of the I-17 corridor.” 

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Which highways are closed in northern Arizona?

Several major highways across the high country were closed on Jan. 8 due to winter weather and related crashes, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. 

As of the afternoon, the following closures were in place:

• Interstate 40 eastbound at US 93 (milepost 72)
• Interstate 40 eastbound at State Route 89 in Ash Fork (milepost 146)
• Northbound Interstate 17 at State Route 169 (milepost 278)
• State Route 64 (both directions) between mileposts 244-264

ADOT said there is no estimated reopening time for any of these highways. 

Drivers can check the latest road closures and travel conditions through ADOT’s AZ511 system, with an online interactive map and mobile app. Information is available at AZ511.gov or by calling 511 from within Arizona. 

Snow, wind and cold persist 

Flagstaff could see snow totals around 2 to 5 inches, with more at the higher elevations. Snow will continue across eastern Arizona into the evening Jan. 8 and early on Jan. 9, including parts of Black Mesa, the Chinle Valley and the Chuska Mountains. 

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Gusty winds could reduce visibility, especially in areas with blowing snow. Winds will shift northerly overnight, summoning colder air as the system departs. 

“It’s going to dry out,” Klimowski said. “It’s going to be cold and blustery tomorrow and then a slow warming trend through much of next week.” 

Lows on Jan. 9 will be 10 to 15 degrees below normal, with wind chills near zero in the High Country. While snow will cease by Jan. 9, slick roads and hazardous conditions could remain, 

“Be careful if you’re traveling tonight,” Klimowski said. “It’s going to be slick out there.”

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Why does it snow so much in Flagstaff? Here’s what to know

Flagstaff may be in a state known for its scorching summers and years-long droughts, but it is one of the snowiest cities in the United States.

Hayleigh Evans writes about extreme weather and related topics for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email her with story tips at hayleigh.evans@arizonarepublic.com.

(This story has been updated to add a new video).