Maria LaGuerta/Original Sin

Original Sin

Maria LaGuerta is a Main Character in the Showtime series Dexter: Original Sin.

She is a Detective assigned to the Miami Metro Homicide department to "clean it up" following a report that multiple homicide cases were allowed to slip through the cracks if they involved N.H.Is (No-Humans Involved, a term coined for cases involving prostitutes, drug addicts and the homeless). Captain Aaron Spencer holds personal disdain for LaGuerta, viewing her as an obstacle towards how he runs the department and tasks Sergeant Harry Morgan with keeping an eye on her - sensing that she's a "climber" in the ranks.

She would eventually meet and partner with James Doakes, where she would be promoted to Lieutenant after a successful bust of a big time drug dealer. The promotion came from acting Captain Thomas Matthews, whom she would share a tension-filled relationship throughout the remainder of her tenure in the department. As Spencer predicted she would later climb through the ranks to Captain herself following Tom's promotion to Deputy Chief and hold this role in the original series with Angel Batista taking the role by the time of Dexter: New Blood.

Background[]

Maria LaGuerta was born in Cuba and immigrated into the United States alone to be with her Tía and Tío (aunt and uncle) in Miami. As she grew up she proved to be a difficult child for them, making impulsive decisions similar to Debra Morgan such as running off with a tattooed man on a motorcycle all the way to Boston before they caught up to her. Despite her rebellious nature, no matter how far she strayed, she always found her way back home to them.

When she became an adult she entered law enforcement, training in El Barrio which according to Harry Morgan was "rough, hell of a training ground". Upon becoming an officer in 1981 she spent eight years as a uniformed officer (uni) and in 1989 she became a detective in Narcotics, where she would ultimately aim her sights on Miami Metro Homicide. At some point she began seeing a young law student by the name of Miguel Prado, a fellow Cuban immigrant with aspirations to become the District Attorney.