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Melissa Huckaby Pleads Guilty To Kidnapping, Murder Of Sandra Cantu
FOX40 News
 
A Stockton judge has accepted a guilty plea from Melissa Huckaby Monday morning.

Huckaby was accused of killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu last year in Tracy.

The District Attorney has reportedly made a plea deal with Huckaby on murder and kidnapping charges.

According to the plea agreement, she will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.  



http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/ktxl-news-huckabypleadsguilty,0,7232594.story

Woman pleads guilty in Sandra Cantu murder

Monday, May 10, 2010

The Central California Sunday school teacher accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu has pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree murder.

San Joaquin County Superior Court officials say Melissa Huckaby of Tracy entered the surprise plea in a hearing Monday morning.

Authorities say Huckaby killed Sandra, a playmate of her young daughter, in March 2009. A massive search for the girl ended when her body was found stuffed in a black suitcase pulled from an irrigation pond a few miles from the mobile home park where she lived.

Assistant Court Executive Officer Sharon Morris says Huckaby faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Huckaby is scheduled for sentencing June 14.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/05/10/state/n092810D14.DTL

Huckaby due in court Monday, June 14th

Melissa Huckaby, who admitted to kidnapping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, June 14, in Stockton.

Huckaby, a former Sunday school teacher in Tracy, is due to appear in Department 14 of the Stockton courthouse, 222 E. Weber Ave., at 8:30 a.m. Monday. She is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Her guilty plea May 10 was the latest twist in the saga that began March 27, 2009, when Sandra was reported missing from her home at Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park. Sandra’s body was found 10 days later inside a suitcase that had been tossed into a dairy lagoon north of Tracy.

Also at the Monday hearing, Judge Linda Lofthus could decide to keep in place or lift a gag order that has kept those involved in the case from talking to the media. Lofthus could also unseal records that contain details of the crime and testimony.

Sandra’s family has fought to keep those records sealed.

http://www.tracypress.com/view/full_story/7885329/article-Huckaby-due-in-court-Monday?instance=home_news_lead_story

Huckaby to be sentenced in Cantu murder case      TODAY!
 Dave Marquis     Last updated 21 mins ago http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=83534&catid=2

(http://www.news10.net/genthumb/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090507033755_cantu-320.jpg)

http://cbs5.com/crime/sandra.cantu.murder.2.1750267.html

 Jun 14, 2010 9:23 am US/Pacific
Life Sentence, No Parole In Cantu Murder
 CBS 5 CrimeWatch
STOCKTON (CBS 5 / AP) ―

A Sunday school teacher who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering a neighbor girl in Tracy was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday morning during a tearful sentencing hearing in which the girl's killer addressed the victim's family.

The sentence for 29-year-old Melissa Huckaby was expected following her surprise guilty plea last month; a deal with prosecutors that took the death penalty off the table.

Huckaby also had been charged with sexually abusing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body was found in a suitcase pulled from an irrigation pond not far from the mobile home community where both had lived. The sexual abuse charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.

In a surprise, Huckaby apologized to Cantu's family, saying, "I shouldn't have taken Sandra from you. She did not suffer and I did not sexually molest your daughter."

Earlier, during victim family statements, the girl's maternal aunt, Angela Chavez, played a video of the victim's short life as family members dissolved into tears.  Cantu's father, Daniel Cantu completely broke down, and told Huckaby to "repent and think about what you've done."

Authorities have released few details about the March 2009 killing, including a possible motive for Huckaby.

The judge in the case has lifted the gag order that was in effect during the trial.  A hearing was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday to decide what other information about the case will be released.