Martens told police Gonzales choked her daughter to death after having sex with her. Gonzales denied any involvement in the killing, telling police it was Kelley, who he identified as his cousin, who stabbed and dismembered the young girl. The girl’s death is the latest in a series of child slaying cases in New Mexico, a state that has the highest youth poverty rate of any state in America, at roughly 30 percent.
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Victoria’s grieving grandparents and other relatives said they were thankful to first-responders, investigating authorities and community members who offered prayers, said minister and family spokeswoman Laura Bobbs.
The girl’s remains were found Wednesday wrapped in a blanket set on fire in an apartment bathroom by police responding to a disturbance report.
The Albuquerque Journal reported that in one case, Kelley acted as a lookout while a woman allegedly raped another inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in September 2012.
Victoria Martens was not known to have been a victim of previous violent abuse.
City officials say there will be free shuttles Sunday afternoon to a park where there will be a public memorial that is also being billed as a birthday party for Victoria Martens. Martens reportedly did not have a police record before participating in the homicide of her daughter, other than a traffic violation.
New Mexico’s top child welfare official says there is no evidence of prior sexual abuse involving a 10-year-old Albuquerque girl who was drugged, raped, killed and dismembered this week but that investigators have opened a probe into the child’s living conditions.
Martinez called the girl’s killers “monsters” and said she hoped “justice will come down on them like a hammer”.
“Our hearts ache today for little Victoria and all who love her including her classmates and the staff and families at Petroglyph Elementary”, APS said in a statement.
Besides Fabian, and the girl’s mother, her mother, Michelle Martens, New Mexico police arrested a third person, “Gonzales’ cousin Jessica Kelley”, according to ABC News.
A New Mexico woman facing charges in the killing of a 10-year-old girl who was dismembered has been released from a hospital and taken to jail. Police said Kelley was hurt when she jumped off the apartment’s balcony trying to run away from officers.
That same month, an 11-year-old Navajo girl was taken to a desolate area by a stranger who sexually assaulted her, bludgeoned her and left her to die. A baby was also in the vehicle at the time. A judge also set their bonds at $1 million cash only. She appeared before a judge in a wheelchair and flanked by multiple guards. On the day Victoria Martens was going to celebrate her 10th birthday, she was found dead in her family’s apartment by Albuquerque police officers.
Second Judicial District Court spokesman Tim Korte said records show the documents were forwarded to the corrections department in February 2015.
Residents of Albuquerque, New Mexico are struggling to understand how a 10-year-old girl became the target of gruesome violence.
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In the evening, dozens of people gathered for a candlelight vigil and the shrine grew.
