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Sandra Cantu Murder-Melissa Huckaby Arrest, Shock Sets In
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by Tina Kells | April 13, 2009 at 09:14 am
709 views | 10 Recommendations | 2 comments
It was anything but a joyous Easter Sunday for the families of Sandra Cantu and Melissa Huckaby as the shock started to set in over the arrest and charge of Cantu's Sunday school teacher for the little girl's murder. The Cantu family tried to stay strong as they attended Easter services as part of a new congregation.
The Cantu family previously attended Clover Road Baptist Church where Huckaby was a Sunday school teacher and her grandfather, Clifford Lawless is pastor. They did not attend Easter services there and instead joined 400 community members at a high school to listen to Pastor Scott McFarland of Journey Christian Church.
Sandra lived with her mother down the street from where Huckaby lived with her grandfather, Clifford Lawless, pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church.
About 400 parishioners, including members of the Cantu family, packed into a high school cafeteria to hear Journey Christian Church Pastor Scott McFarland's Easter sermon.
Journey was one of more than a dozen churches that mobilized members Sunday to pray for the Cantu family. McFarland sent a special message to the family that, like Christ, Sandra's spirit had risen to heaven.
"Jesus is out of the tomb and Sandra is too," McFarland told The Associated Press after the sermon. "She's not in a grave, she's not in a suitcase. She's in heaven and celebrating the best Easter ever."
Sandra Cantu's murder stunned the 78,000 people living in the community of Tracy, California, just outside of San Fransisco. Few details have been released about how she died but her body was found stuffed in a suitcase in a shallow pond near her home. The arrest of Melissa Huckaby, a Sunday school teacher and mother or one of Sandra's playmates, Madison Huckaby, added to the shock of the community.
Melissa Huckaby lives with her pastor grandfather down the street from the Cantu family and was the last adult known to have been with Sandra before she went missing. Inconsistencies in Huckaby's recollection of events led to her arrest. Her family is having difficulty accepting that she might have murdered a helpless child.
Huckaby's father, Brian Lawless, said he did not believe his daughter was capable of what police accuse her of doing.
"I just can't comprehend. There are no words," he told reporters. He said Huckaby lived for her daughter and "was that same way with other children. She loved other children."
Once the autopsy results come in there may be a better understanding of the case against Melissa Huckaby, but until then there is only disbelief and rage. Huckaby's family must come to grips with the idea that one of their own is a cold blooded killer, and Sandra Cantu's family will have to find the strength and faith to live with the senseless killing of a beloved child.
Sandra's uncle, Joe Chavez, said he found it difficult to contain his rage toward Huckaby's family.
"I want to go over there and beat the crap out of those people, but I'm not going to do that," he said as he stood at the entrance to the mobile home park where the little girl lived with her mother. "I just want to vent my anger but it's not in me."
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 15:53 on April 13th, 2009
i am sorry for you child death.so so soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.......sorry.very sorry.i hop you will be ok
at 19:26 on April 13th, 2009
why let someone like this LIVE?!? get a gun, take her outside, put the gun to her head, make her BEG for mercy (like sandra probably did) and just shoot her in the head 100 times! it wont fix anything or have sandra come back in any way, but that is what id like to call "justice" for this little girl. no child deserves to be murdered or raped...no one does. and also, take this lady off sucide watch! let her kill herself so the family doesnt have to go through a trial. let them burial the little girl and grieve. idc if this lady is innocent, covering for anyone, or whatever. she OWNED that suitcase which makes her just as bad. i hope they put her and casey (i know she has nothing to do with this) on death row. make them suffer like scott peterson is doing now....