Calif. Girl's Accused Killer Tried Suicide

Sources: Suspect Swallowed Knife Blades Days Before Arrest In Rape/Murder Of Sandra Cantu, 8

(CBS/AP)  The Sunday school teacher accused of raping and murdering an eight-year-old California girl attempted suicide days before her arrest in the case, CBS News has learned.

Melissa Huckaby was hospitalized after swallowing three X-Acto knife blades, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone. She remains under suicide watch after being formally charged Tuesday with kidnapping, raping and murdering her daughter's playmate, Sandra Cantu.

Huckaby, 28, appeared in a San Joaquin County courtroom for her arraignment in a red jumpsuit and shackles. She trembled and cried as a judge read the charges: murder with the special circumstances of rape with a foreign object, lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under 14, and murder in the course of a kidnapping.

The special circumstances mean Huckaby, if convicted, could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, though District Attorney James Willett said he hasn't decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Huckaby has been ordered to return to court on April 24, when she's expected to enter a plea.

By that time, reports Blackstone, Huckaby will have undergone a medical evaluation - suggesting a possible strategy for her defense: claiming insanity. But some experts think her actions leading up to her arrest would complicate that defense.

"This is a suspect who made numerous efforts to cover up her previous remarks and those are the kind of things that make an insanity plea harder," Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist and chairman of The Forensic Panel, told CBS News. "She had communication with media and other people that was rational to them. That may get in the way of some of what she's doing."

Huckaby was a volunteer Sunday school teacher at the Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy, Calif., where her grandfather is pastor.

Police returned Tuesday to search the church, as well as Huckaby's home, a few doors down from Sandra's in a trailer park in Tracy, a city of about 78,000 people some 60 miles east of San Francisco.

Police had searched the church, interviewed Huckaby's grandfather, Pastor Clifford Lawless, and taken items from the family's home in the days after Sandra's body was found. Huckaby lived with her grandparents.

At a Tuesday evening news conference, Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman would not say why police returned to the church and home or what, if anything, they had taken. But he said police are continuing to investigate Huckaby, who they believe acted alone.

Sandra disappeared March 27, and was last seen on a surveillance camera skipping outside the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park.

A 10-day search by law enforcement and the community ended on April 6, when farm workers draining an irrigation pond a few miles away from the mobile home complex found the suitcase containing Sandra's body.

Police have said Sandra was found wearing the same clothes she had on when she was last seen: a pink "Hello Kitty" T-shirt and black leggings. They have not said how, why or where she was killed, and the coroner's office has said autopsy results are pending.

The complaint said the murder happened "on or about" March 27, but gave no other details.

Huckaby was arrested Friday after what police said were inconsistencies in her story during hours of questioning.

She had told a Tracy Press reporter that the suitcase in which Sandra's body was found was hers, but that it had been stolen the day Sandra went missing.

Huckaby's family has described her as a loving mother who had a strong religious background and wouldn't hurt anyone.

Relatives visited Huckaby at San Joaquin County Jail on Monday night, where she had been under observation. That was the first time they'd seen her since her arrest.

Huckaby's father, Brian Lawless, said the family cried and prayed together during the visit.

"She's not getting much sleep but in spite of all that that she looks good," he said afterwards. "We're in shock ... The young lady I see on film, that's not my daughter."

A public memorial service was scheduled for Sandra in Tracy on Thursday.

[luvmybabies77]

cottrelljk1993 , Couldn't have said it better myself.

bobkat258 , How dare you tell people what they can say and feel. We have the right just as much as you do.

[joni36-2009]

this B makes me sick and mad to look at her or to think of her. i have a nine year old girl and and a eight boy. i watch them all the time because im on disability and my wife works. just thinking about someone killing one of them makes me sick and if it was a man i would try to go to jail to get him. there are ways to do that but wont say what it is. pretty littie girl , she was.

[msteena0723]

this is such a tragedy. that lil precious girl. its very sad what this woman did to her. how could she harm another persons child, harm a child period! i feel that anyone that hurts children whether it'd be physical, sexual abuse or murder should DIE. it is wrong to harm any human being, but a child is just the absolute lowest. i think they should lock her up and put her in with the other inmates so that they can torture her everyday..and there she wait for the death penalty, because the death penalty alone would not be enough. i also have an eight year old and she is the love of my life....i hope that the family can get through this ok...

[hmmm09]

She tried to commit suicide before she was arrested... Why didn't she do it before she murdered the little girl...No sympathy here...She needs a needle in the arm...

[demingdoll]

alot of these comments are right on the money. Though it is not unheard of for a woman to commit heinous crimes, just not as common. This woman if guilty is definitely a creep. The fact that she is religious is moot. Depends on the religion she believes in. May not necessarily be Christian. Even that is questionable. Not all Christians are "pure" given the priests guilty of sodomy etc. I also agree that laws should be more strict and the death penalty should be considered. BUT, parents need to step up and protect their kids as well. Yes this woman is a creep but she was given an opportunity and no one was there to prevent it. My heart aches for Sandra and her family and all others that have fallen victim to our sick society.

[cottrelljk1993]

Well Bobcat258 Do YOU have children. Why has this woman been implicated in something like this. There has to be something that she has done to make the police arrest her. They just don't arrest women for this type of crime. In fact a women was the last person they would have thought to look for, but they have something on her. I know all are considered innocent until proven guilty, but, I will be the first in line to apologize if she was not guilty, but she has done something and we are entitled to say how we feel, like you said, This is America. I am tired of how these sick people can hurt and kill children and know that they will be able to enter a plea of insanity or mental illness and get off on this crime but the family of the victim will suffer for the rest of their life over what a piece of crap inflicted on them. Also, Don't give a "jury of your peers" reason to believe you would do such a crime. Evidence is mounting up now isn't it? Who in the world would have believed that a freakin female Sunday school teacher could have done this? Do you believe the police are just picking on her? It's like saying everyone is entitled to due process of the law. Now where was the law when it came to O.J. Simpson. It's messed up. So for those of you who are waiting to talk about how they feel until she has her day in court that is your RIGHT, but for the rest of us who want to talk about our feelings and get the mental heaviness of why this has happened off our chest then this is our RIGHT too!!!!!

[bobkat258]

I would hate to be judged by a "jury of my peers" in this country if this blog is an example of how my "peers" think.
You people would have her strung up under the nearest tree if you could.
Shame on you! This is AMERICA where EVERYONE is entitled to due process of the law.

[annasmommy]

I have not been able to sleep very well over Sandra's death. I have a daughter who very much looks like Sandra and is 9 yrs. old. I just can't get over this senseless crime. I have become very overly protected of my daughter somedays to the point of just keeping her in the house to play games with me because I know she is safe. I have changed the way I view my neighborhood and pressuring my husband to move away from a large community to a more country setting. I have lived in my neighborhood for 13yrs. and everyday I go over the safety rules and make her repeat them back to me. With everything that has been happening with all these little angels who have been taken away from their families I want to keep my little girl in an area with little or no neighbors at all. I don't want to scare her but I don't want to take a chance on something happening to her either. When does a parent draw the line and give a little freedom to their child to go play with other children or ride their bikes in their neighborhood (of course with other children)? When are we going to have laws that these sick people will be afraid of? In my opinion I think people would get a wake up call if we had laws for child murderers and phedophiles that included eye for an eye. Our innocent children are being preyed upon for sick peoples gratification. You can not help these type of people and they will never ever return to a normal state of mind. So why spend our taxpayers money on these people by giving them life w/o parole. They need to die in the way their victims died. Suffer the way the victims suffered. Then maybe these people might have a second thought before doing such a crime. Not only do these people affect the families of the victim, they also affect the normal people of our whole country. My mom asked me If I think that she might have thought about these sadistic crimes on her own daughter and before she killed her own child took it out on someone else's? I don't know what to think except this has gotten me so shook up I have really become scared for my children. I hate to think of what is gonna happen in future generations with all the violence that the children of today are exposed to, the beatings kids are dishing out to other kids and video taping for entertainment, and to all the kids who are left alone and are able to do what they want because both parents have to work to make ends meet. I don't see a brighter future and that's ashame!!!!!!

[GirlGeorgeBerk]

I DON'T THINK A WOMAN LITTLE LONE A MOTHER WOULD DO THAT..SOMEWHERE THERE'S A MAN HIDING BEHIND HER..MAKING HER TAKE THE FALL FOR HIS PERVERSIONS...MAYBE GRANDPA LAWLESS..OR A BOY FRIEND...JUST WAIT & SEE

[stryker54]

First and foremost my heart goes out for this precious liitle girl and here family.
I think this woman either did it or knows who did. It is so sad our society has to harm children, but according to our human rights for prisoners and convicts we have to be nice to them. Personally I believe we should bring back the chair, maybe firing squad and hanging. It seems with this type of punishment we didn't have all the killings we do now.
Or maybe our society has just decided they don't care unless it happens to them. I'm not at all for innocent people being executed, but when the truth comes out anyone responsible for hurting a child like this deserve to fear their own death. My one question was this little girl alive when thrown in the water. This whole case is terrible. May she rest in peace.

[bunnie69]

this story is the sickest ..... what the hell does this perv want with a little girl, why would u want to play or fondle a little girl for .....whatdo these people be thinking... first off its a woman, as a woman u were a little girl did u stuff things in urself at 8 sicko.... second to murder a little girl what the hell did she do to u was she prettier than ur daughter so u figured u would get rid of the competition....*** why....second to fold a body up in a suitcase and dump in a river....thats sad..... i wonder what has she done to her own kid mayb ushe have her checked out s well.....this is sick u should let the parents of the little girl get a chance to beat the sh8t out of her and kill herprison wont help her all that does is give her a free way to live and go on with her life.......

[rsmik]

If at first you don't succeed....

[DoubleHappiness88]

Have a good look at Melissa Huckaby. That is a mind on religion.

[jladydahlia]

this woman needs to be punished we have too many sexual predators and murderers getting free and harming more children if this country would impose the death penalty more our children would be better protected.

[apndrgn]

Is it possible that she is swallowing razorblades from sheer stress as she tries to defend the guilty uncle? The court may never know, yet the court may enforce the death penalty. people do strange things. Time to plant a tree.

[apndrgn]

Kail has made the staircase very slippery. I feel guilty that melissa is not black or mexican. Which somehow makes me think about the octo mom.

[kailumego]

obviously the majority posting here are in "knee-deep denial", or still reveling the after-effects of watching too much "Leave it to Beaver" or "The Donna Reed Show"...

Because where, in good moral authority, or rational thought, can anyone rationalize this woman's behavior, considering, she's confessed to kidnapping, rape and murder, notwithstanding, she's tried to commit suicide, as a result of her depraved act...

I'm lost, the evidence is circumstantial, she's innocent until proved guilty, or the outlandish racist statement incest is indicative of Hispanics, notwithstanding statistically pedophilia is highly more visible among white males, than any other ethnic group.

I wonder if those posting here would have demonstrated the identical concern over someone's rights being trampled upon if this had been an African American female, male, of Hispanic accused of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a white child????

[apndrgn]

CP,
You make a plausible point about the unkle, then take a nose dive into insanity with the racial slur, which would lead one to wonder what actions you would take if your finger were on the button in that situation.

[CLoverNYC1]

Without dna or fingerprints, mere ownership of a suitcase in which a body is found is considered circumstantial evidence.

It was the morbidly obese uncle with the equally big mouth who violated and killed that little girl, then stuffed her body in that nut's suitcase to frame her.

Everybody knows that incest is the accepted norm in latino culture.

[CPMontague]

Dgunner: then you're really no better a person than Huckaby is.