Melissa Huckaby Pleads Guilty to Murder of Eight-Year-Old Sandra Cantu

Former Sunday school teacher, Melissa Huckaby pleaded guilty today, May 10, 2010 to the first-degree murder and kidnapping of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu. Twenty-nine-year-old Melissa Huckaby appeared in front of a San Joaquin County Superior Court. As part of the plea arraignment all other charges against Melissa Huckaby were dropped, including two rape related charges. The initial charges would have enabled prosecutors to seek the death penalty. Melissa Huckaby faces a sentence of twenty-five years to life without the possibility of parole.

The Murder of Sandra Cantu

The small Northern California town, just 60 miles east of San Francisco, was rocked when the body of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu was found stuffed in a black Eddie Bauer suitcase tossed into an irrigation pond. The last pictures taken of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu were from a surveillance camera, which showed the young girl skipping down the road on her way to play with Melissa Huckaby's daughter. The murder occurred on or around March 27, 2009. After a ten-day search for the missing Sandra Cantu, her body was found stuffed inside a suitcase inside an irrigation pond. It was later found that the suitcase belonged to Melissa Huckaby. Shortly after the discovery of the girl's body, Melissa Huckaby was brought in for questioning and later charged with the murder and sexual assault of the eight-year-old child.

Why Did Melissa Huckaby Murder Sandra Cantu?

When one hears of crimes this horrendous, the first question that often comes to mind is why. Why would anyone, let alone a mother and Sunday school teacher sexually assault and murder a young child? According to an interview with Huckaby's ex-husband, Melissa suffered from depression and other mental health problems. Despite her mental health issues, he did not think that she was capable of violence.

It has been confirmed that during the days following the disappearance of Sandra Cantu, Huckaby had been admitted to a local hospital. There were even stories that Huckaby had tried to commit suicide by swallowing razor blades. Huckaby denied the suicide allegations. According to Huckaby's ex-husband, Melissa Huckaby had been involved with two men who had supposedly abused her. There has been no confirmation though that Melissa Huckaby had been raped or sexually abused, but it is one of the theories as to potentially why she allegedly raped and murdered Sandra Cantu.

This is such a sad and heartbreaking story. Our hearts go out to the family of Sandra Cantu and also to Melissa Huckaby's young daughter.

Sources:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/10/teacher-pleads-guilty-murdering-california-girl/?test=latestnews

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7356264&page=3