Memorial service set for slain 8-year-old girl

Memorial Services for Sandra Cantu have been set for today. My heart still goes out to her family. I cannot imagine what they must be going through right now.

I can only hope that seeing justice done will help to ease their pain, although it won't bring little Sandra back.

The woman accused of this heinous act deserves to die for it. It's just that simple:

"CNN) -- Eight-year-old Sandra Cantu will be remembered at a memorial service Thursday in the central California community where she lived and was later found dead.

The girl, who police say died at the hands of a Sunday school teacher, was last seen alive March 27 in the mobile home park where she lived with her family in Tracy, California. Police found her body April 6, stuffed into a suitcase and submerged in a pond at a dairy farm in the area.

Police arrested Melissa Huckaby, 28, and charged her with killing and raping Sandra, who was a friend of her 5-year-old daughter. She faces charges of murder, kidnapping, the performance of a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14, and rape by instrument.

Huckaby, a Sunday school teacher at Clover Road Baptist Church, lived in the nearby mobile home park that Sandra's family lived in.

If convicted, Huckaby would face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, San Joaquin County District Attorney James Willett said this week.

The service for Sandra is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET at a high school in Tracy. " Source: CNN

Sandra Cantu, child found in submerged luggage may have been raped

In another development in the Sandra Cantu murder, authorities say that the child may have also been raped before being murdered:

"(CNN) -- A Sunday school teacher accused of killing a Tracy, California girl may also have raped the 8-year-old, authorities say.

Melissa Huckaby, expected to be arraigned Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET in the death of Sandra Cantu, will face additional charges, including rape, police told CNN.

"When she was booked, she was booked on charges of kidnapping and murder," Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said on "Larry King Live" on Monday night. "And we're informed by the district attorney that she'll be charged with abduction, murder, rape with a foreign object and lewd and lascivious acts with a child."

Sandra's body was found April 6, stuffed into a suitcase and submerged in a pond at a dairy farm. Huckaby, also of Tracy, California, was arrested on April 10 after questioning by police.

Sandra was last seen alive March 27 in the mobile home park where she lived with her family -- the same mobile home park where Huckaby lives with her own 5-year-old daughter. The two children were close friends and played together frequently, police said." Source: CNN

Melissa Huckaby, 28, Sunday School Teacher at Clover Road Baptist Church, Arrested in Murder of Sandra Cantu

Melissa Huckaby, 28, a Sunday school teacher at Clover Road Baptist Church, has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Sandra Cantu. The police took her into custody after she voluntarily went to them for questioning, which reportedly lasted nearly five hours. She is being held without bail at the San Joaquin County Jail, with an arraignment set for Tuesday. If you ask me, she should certainly be denied bond because of what she did to this poor child. As sad as this is, it is very rare for a woman to kill a child, so I would like to know the motive for this senseless killing.

Huckaby had previously told the Tracy Press that Sandra visited her home to play with her daughter March 27, the day she disappeared. She also said she had left her suitcase in the driveway that day, and that it was missing. Police said that large, dark-colored suitcase was the one in which Sandra's body was found April 8, submerged in an irrigation pond in Tracy. This woman was obviously misguided into thinking the cops would not have made a connection between the suitcase and her.

She brought untold attention to the church and her grandfather Pastor Clifford Lane Lawless, which was the subject of a police search. Huckaby taught Sunday school at the church and lived with Lawless in the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park that also was Sandra's home. Of course, I won't be surprised if an insanity plea is brought in this case. This was reprehensible and I am glad that the accused killer was found alive and not dead. If she is proven guilty, she ought to meet the same fate as this little girl. Sandra Cantu has gone too soon. The church is supposed to be a refuge, not a trap for this little girl. The last person you would expect to kidnap and murder someone is a Sunday school teacher. But, the Bible did talk about wolves in sheep's clothing.

Police to search Clover Road Baptist Church in Sandra Cantu's murder

We told you earlier that missing California 8-year-old, Sandra Cantu, was found dead in an irrigation pond. Now we learn that the home and church of a local pastor have been searched by the police:

"The Clover Road Baptist Church on West Clover Road is just down the street from where Sandra lived at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park in Tracy. The church was cordoned off by yellow police tape today as officers awaited a search warrant. No arrests have been made.

Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said investigators planned to search the church in conjunction with a search of a residence in the mobile home park. Neighbors said the home being searched was that of the pastor." Source: SanFrancisco Chronicle

I am speechless at the latest turn of events in this case. Of course all suspects are innocent until found guilty, but to think that a pastor could have had something to do with this act is unfathomable!