Arrest of Sunday school teacher in slaying of girl shocks community

TRACY, Calif. (AP) — Police said Saturday they do not know what motivated the Sunday school teacher they arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing an 8-year-old girl whose body was found in a suitcase dumped in an irrigation pond.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, a local minister’s granddaughter, was arrested late Friday about five hours after she drove herself to the local police station at the request of officers, said police Sgt. Tony Sheneman. She was being held without bail in connection with the death of Sandra Cantu, the San Joaquin County sheriff’s office said.

Sandra disappeared March 27, and hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials turned out to search for her. On April 6, farmworkers draining an irrigation pond found the suitcase.

Huckaby walked into the police station Friday and started a conversation with officers, Sheneman said at a news conference.

“She was calm, cool and collected, then she became very emotional. ... She went back and forth from being calm to emotional.”

Eventually, she became “resigned,” Sheneman said.

“I couldn’t begin to even theorize what her motive was,” he said.

“Sandra was very close friends with Melissa’s daughter. They used to play together,” Sheneman said.

Investigators know where the girl was killed but can’t disclose the location, he said. Autopsy results are not yet available. He wouldn’t say whether police believe the slaying was accidental or deliberate.

Sheneman had earlier told The Associated Press that interviews with Huckaby in The Tracy Press had revealed inconsistencies that prompted further inquiries from investigators.

He had confirmed early Saturday that the suitcase in which the body was found belonged to Huckaby.

Huckaby is on suicide watch in an observation cell, said sheriff’s Deputy Les Garcia. She is refusing to see visitors, he said. Jail records did not indicate whether she had an attorney.

Sandra’s aunt, Angie Chavez, said the girl’s mother, Maria Chavez, was devastated.

“It’s not over. This is just the beginning of a horrible nightmare,” Angie Chavez said of the arrest as she stood at the entrance to the mobile home park where Sandra lived with her mother.

Angie Chavez’s husband, Joe Chavez, said Huckaby should face the death penalty.

“You eye everybody with a great deal of suspicion. We’re shell-shocked here,” Joe Chavez said. “Who can you trust at this point? Who do you know?”

Susan Levy of nearby Modesto, mother of slain Washington intern Chandra Levy, appeared arm-in-arm with Angie and Joe Chavez as they spoke with reporters.

Levy said she was there to support the family as they, too, dealt with the tragic loss of a child. Authorities recently issued an arrest warrant in the 2001 Levy killing.

Sheneman said investigators hadn’t expected that the suspect would turn out to be a woman.

“It’s unusual for it to be a woman statistically and according to the FBI,” he said at the news conference.

Discovering it was a woman and a member of the tight-knit Tracy community who knew the family was “a double blow,” he said.

“Today’s going to be a very difficult day for everyone to digest that,” Sheneman said. “This was an anomaly in the murder of a child.”

Sheneman said no other arrests in the case are anticipated.

The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.