Neighbors said Victoria’s mother worked at a nearby grocery store deli and they were shocked to see a mugshot of her in an orange jail jumpsuit.
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Minister and family spokeswoman Laura Bobbs says Victoria’s family and friends are overwhelmed with grief.
Sanchez suggested deaths like Victoria’s could be prevented if state child welfare case workers made more home visits and New Mexico implemented a statewide pre-kindergarten program. The archbishop asked all Catholics to pray for the girl for an end to child abuse.
According to the criminal complaint filed against 10-year-old Victoria Martens’ mother and her boyfriend, the boyfriend Fabian Gonzales and his cousin Jessica Kelley had plans to sexually assault the little girl, who had just turned ten but was supposed to celebrate her birthday the next afternoon. All are charged in the girl’s death.
The city of Albuquerque is holding a celebration in honor of a girl who police say died a grisly death on her 10th birthday. The district reportedly sent out a letter to parents and students, posted a memorial on their website and has offered grief counseling services for students impacted by the death of murdered 10-year-old Victoria Martens.
The church said on its Facebook page Victoria was integral part of the church’s spiritual family.
Charges have been brought against three people in connection with the horrific death of a 10-year-old girl at an Albuquerque, New Mexico apartment complex.
She said Gonzales and Kelley then dismembered Victoria.
Victoria’s mother told police she met Gonzales online about a month ago and that he drugged the girl so he could calm her down and have sex with her, the complaint said. Corrections department officials said Friday they never got the judge’s order for him to be supervised by probation officers.
The woman told officers her 10-year-old daughter was still inside apartment number 808 from which they had escaped. In 2015, Gonzales pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor crimes for allegedly having beaten a woman in a vehicle while she was driving. A judge sentenced him to two years of probation under state supervision. The girl’s mother, 35-year-old Michelle Martens, her 31-year-old boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, and his 31-year-old cousin, Jessica Kelley, are facing charges. He told reporters after his arrest that he didn’t have a role in Victoria Martens’ death.
“I’ve been involved in the criminal law for over 30 years and this is the most inhumane case I think I’ve come across”, Schultz said.
Kelley was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center Friday after treatment at the hospital for a broken leg from jumping from a balcony in an attempt to elude police. She was wrapped in a blanket that had been set on fire. But officials acknowledged Friday that the man accused of injecting her with methamphetamine before raping her was not being monitored by probation officers or tested for drugs as mandated by a judge previous year.
The others charged in Victoria’s death are her mother, Michelle Martens, and Gonzales’ cousin Jessica Kelley.
Gonzales has denied wrongdoing.
Albuquerque’s KRQE-TV (goo.gl/03ue50) reports officials are investigating how 31-year-old Fabian Gonzales slipped through the cracks.
KRQE-TV says Gonzales pleaded no contest in 2015 to two misdemeanors after his arrest for beating a woman in a auto with a baby inside it while the woman was driving. She appeared before a judge in a wheelchair and flanked by multiple guards.
Residents of Albuquerque, New Mexico are struggling to understand how a 10-year-old girl became the target of gruesome violence.
The girl’s mother and her boyfriend have also been arrested. People have left candles, stuffed animals, and flowers for the young girl. Some hugged while others cried and prayed.
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Another shrine was erected at Petroglyph Elementary School, where Victoria had just started the new school year.
