Melissa Huckaby

Case details

Melissa Huckaby was accused in the homicide of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu in Tracy, California.

Timeline

• 27 March 2009 — Sandra Cantu was reported missing in Tracy, California; she was last seen wearing a pink Hello Kitty t-shirt and black leggings.
• 6 April 2009 — A man named Jose Luis Franco, while working at a dairy farm, found a suitcase in a pond containing the body of Sandra Cantu.
• 9 April 2009 — Investigators found a note on a tree in the trailer park where Sandra Cantu lived: "From Sandra, to my killer".
• 10 April 2009 — Police arrested 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby and charged her with kidnapping, rape, and murder of Cantu; she was placed under arrest after interrogation; reports indicated she attempted suicide by swallowing knife blades; she drove herself to a police station on Good Friday at the request of officers.
• 11 April 2009 — Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said Huckaby revealed enough information for probable cause to arrest her for both kidnapping and murder.
• 18 August 2009 — A San Joaquin County grand jury indicted Huckaby on charges she kidnapped, raped and killed Sandra Cantu and drugged two other people.
• 10 May 2010 — Huckaby pleaded guilty to the murder.
• 14 June 2010 — Huckaby was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Background

Sandra Cantu lived in a Tracy trailer park where she had close ties to Melissa Huckaby. Huckaby was a former Sunday school teacher. Investigators believed Huckaby taught Sunday school at Clover Road Baptist Church, where her grandfather served as a minister. Huckaby lived in the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park, where Sandra Cantu’s family also lived.

Huckaby was born February 23, 1981. She was described as the granddaughter of Clifford Lawless, pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church, in Tracy, California. Huckaby was the mother of a 5-year-old daughter, and Sandra Cantu played with that daughter as a close friend.

The offence

Sandra Cantu was 8 years old when she was killed. After her body was found, the court records described evidence that she was strangled with a torn piece of cloth that had been knotted into "a noose." The cause of death was determined to be "homicidal asphyxiation."

Some of Sandra Cantu’s injuries were consistent with a rolling pin with a bent handle and a bloody smudge found inside the church where Huckaby had taught. The pathology report indicated the smudge on the rolling pin matched Sandra Cantu’s blood. The report also showed she was sexually assaulted with the object.

Prosecutor Tom Testa lifted details previously kept from the public and described toxicology findings. Toxicology tests found the drug alprazolam, used to treat anxiety disorders, in Cantu’s body. Bottles of alprazolam were found in Huckaby’s home and purse, Testa said. Prosecutors had previously announced they would seek the death penalty at trial, but Huckaby pleaded guilty to the murder, sparing her from a possible death sentence.

Huckaby also denied having sexually assaulted Sandra Cantu and asked Sandra’s mother Maria Chavez for forgiveness. She stated: "She did not suffer, and I did not sexually molest her," and "I'm asking you, Maria, for your forgiveness. I can't imagine forgiving someone who harmed my daughter. I hope someday you can forgive me."

The prosecution’s account also referenced evidence about the packaging of Cantu’s body in a suitcase. Forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu testified during grand jury proceedings that the way the child’s body was put into a suitcase after the killing showed premeditation, and Omalu said the murder showed a "calm, calculating mind at work."

Investigation

Investigators reported that they searched for Sandra Cantu after she disappeared on March 27. Police said they received 1,500 tips in the hunt. FBI spokesman Steve Dupre said the case involving Huckaby’s arrest was uncommon and referenced a review of data from the 2007 Uniform Crime Report.

During the investigation, police and residents in Tracy responded with shock when the suspect in the murder of a young girl was identified as a woman. FBI statistics were cited indicating women were involved in 7 percent of murders of any sort, and that solo killings of children by women were unusual.

Investigators said there were no other suspects and no other arrests were expected. Tracy police described the case as an anomaly in the murder of a child. Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said at a news conference: "This was an anomaly in the murder of a child." Sheneman also said: "Finding out that it is a woman who is responsible for Sandra's kidnapping and murder, and then finding out it is a member of the community is another blow."

Candice DeLong, a retired FBI profiler based in San Francisco, said: "It's very unusual for women to be involved in an abduction and murder of a child." She also said: "Sometimes we see this when the woman is working with a male partner. It does not appear to be the case this time. But this was not a sexually motivated crime."

Police investigators said inconsistencies in Huckaby’s story led to her arrest. Investigators searched Clover Road Baptist Church in the hours before Huckaby was arrested, filling a van with evidence bags.

Grand jury transcripts included testimony from forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu. Prosecutors also said surveillance video and eyewitness testimony connected Cantu to Huckaby.

Surveillance testimony was described as follows:

• Prosecutor Tom Testa said surveillance video from the trailer park showed Cantu skipping toward her home on March 27 when something caught her eye, stating: "Cantu 'looks over in the direction of Melissa Huckaby's residence. Then she drops off the face of the earth.'"
• Testa said the videotape showed Huckaby, eight minutes later, driving out of the mobile home park in the direction of her grandfather’s church, Clover Road Baptist Church.
• Testa said Huckaby phoned the trailer park manager to report her black suitcase stolen in front of her trailer.
• Testa said another surveillance tape showed Huckaby driving away from the church and then returning to the church 30 minutes later.
• During that 30-minute window, a retired marine and his wife saw Huckaby and her SUV at the irrigation pond where Sandra Cantu’s body would later be found stuffed inside a suitcase.
• Huckaby later told investigators she stopped at the pond to urinate.

Investigators also said Huckaby alerted authorities to a handwritten note she claimed she found near the community mailboxes at her trailer park the day after Cantu disappeared. The note read: "CANTU LOCKED IN STOLIN SUIT CASE THROWN IN WATER ONN BACHCHETTI & WHITEHALL. WITNESS," and prosecutors said the handwriting matched Huckaby’s handwriting, though it was disguised.

Arrest and pretrial events

Melissa Huckaby was arrested April 10, 2009, and was held without bail at the San Joaquin County Jail for arraignment. She was scheduled to appear in court April 17 to check in with a county mental health program as part of a three-year probation sentence for a petty theft charge to which she pleaded no contest.

According to statements made after her arrest, Huckaby approached FBI agents and two Tracy police officers and gave them the handwritten note she claimed she found. Reports after her arrest indicated she attempted suicide by swallowing knife blades, and Huckaby reportedly denied this.

At the time of arrest, police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said: "She revealed enough information that we had probable cause to arrest her for both kidnapping and murder." Sheneman also described her emotional state, saying: "She was very relaxed for a bit, then she became very emotional and then she became relaxed again and then became resigned to what was happening."

Huckaby told conflicting stories to police and the media about the black Eddie Bauer suitcase, including that she left it in her driveway on the day Cantu went missing.

Trial and plea

Huckaby was indicted by a grand jury on charges of kidnapping, murder, and rape in the death of Cantu. Prosecutors subsequently announced that the death penalty would be sought at trial.

Huckaby later pleaded guilty to the murder on May 10, 2010. In connection with the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped other charges as part of the plea deal. The plead guilty outcome spared Huckaby from a possible death sentence.

During sentencing proceedings in June 2010, Prosecutor Tom Testa said: "I should not have taken her from you." In court, Huckaby apologized to Sandra’s family and said: "I owe you an explanation. But I still cannot understand why I did what I did." Prosecutors also described evidence they believed supported the death penalty request, but the plea meant the case proceeded with the murder guilty plea.

Sentencing

On June 14, 2010, Melissa Huckaby was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Prosecutor Tom Testa quoted the pathologist’s report as follows, stating: "homicidal asphyxiation." Testa also said Sandra had been strangled with a torn piece of cloth that had been knotted into "a noose." He said some injuries were consistent with a rolling pin with a bent handle and a bloody smudge found inside the church where Huckaby had taught.

Testa said toxicology found alprazolam in Cantu’s body and that bottles of alprazolam were found in Huckaby’s home and purse.

Appeals

No appeal information was provided.

Outcome

Huckaby pleaded guilty to the murder of Sandra Cantu and received a life sentence without parole. The kidnapping and murder charges were resolved through the plea deal described in court.

All other charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.

Aftermath and additional allegations mentioned in proceedings

The grand jury transcripts included testimony regarding premeditation as described by forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu.

Other criminal allegations were described as pending or included in the indictment process. In addition to charges connected to Sandra Cantu’s death, the grand jury indictment also included allegations that Huckaby drugged two other people, including a 7-year-old girl and an adult named Daniel Plowman, with prosecutors claiming she mixed "a harmful substance with food or drink" and fed it to the child.

A separate report described that Huckaby was scheduled to check in with a county mental health program as part of probation tied to a petty theft charge to which she pleaded no contest.

Huckaby was described as having moved in with her grandparents in Tracy to get past troubles, according to her uncle, John Hughes Jr. of Whittier. Angel Chavez, Sandra Cantu’s aunt, said: "Why?" and also said: "I want to know why she did it, if she did it."