When police arrived, they found her partially dismembered body burning in a bathtub.
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Police said Martens and Gonzales met on a dating site online about a month before the killing, and that Martens allowed Kelley to move into her apartment after her release from prison about four days before the killing.
It was made worse not just by the circumstances of the crime, which prosecutors and police allege included a forcible drugging of the girl, sexual assault, strangling, stabbing, murder and desecration of her corpse through dismemberment and burning, but also by who is believed to have carried out the awful murder of Victoria Martens.
We want to warn you that the details of the case are graphic.
The slaying has sent shockwaves through the city, where thousands gathered Sunday for a birthday party in honor of Victoria.
Laura Bobbs lived in the same apartment complex as the girl’s mother, Michelle Martens, for five years and said she and Martens’ parents saw the mother daily but never picked up clues of anything amiss. She, her boyfriend and the boyfriends cousin all face charges of child abuse resulting in death, kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
Martens, who has a cut between her eyes, was followed by reporters as she was being arrested.
Martens, Fabian Gonzales and his cousin Jessica Kelley are all jailed for lack of $1 million bail, facing charges of child abuse resulting in death, kidnapping and tampering with evidence in connection with the August 24 killing of Victoria Martens.
He ordered her held on $1 million bond.
Now relatives and friends of the 35-year-old single mother are trying to figure out why they never knew about her involvement with the boyfriend and her invitation for his cousin who is a convicted felon to live in her apartment.
Gonzales has denied harming Victoria saying it was Kelley who raped and stabbed her.
Child welfare officials have said there were no previous cases of violent or sexual abuse involving Victoria and her mother.
In that case, Fabian Gonzales was arrested for beating another woman in a auto with a baby inside it while the woman was driving and ended up pleading no contest to two misdemeanor crimes that kept him out of jail.
Court records show Kelley had a prior conviction of felony rape from an incident while she was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in September 2012. Corrections department officials said Friday they never got the judge’s order for him to be supervised by probation officers.
She pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit criminal sexual penetration and was sentenced to three years in prison minus almost a year for time served.
Neighbors described Victoria as a happy and outgoing child and Bobbs said she always appeared to be well cared for by her mother.
“Parents, communities, and government – let’s put our children first”, Bobbs said. They didn’t take or answer any questions, and Bobbs implored the media to respect the family’s wishes for privacy as they struggle with grief and the real-life aftermath of the Victoria Martens tragedy. As their spokeswoman stated, they will need them as they traverse the rough road they face in the near future. Martens worked at a grocery store near the apartment complex with a community pool where the girl was often seen swimming.
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Martens shared custody of her 5-year-old son with his father.
