CrimeWatch

TRACY (CBS 5 / AP) ― A Sunday school teacher accused of killing an 8-year-old Tracy girl and putting her body in a suitcase was formally charged by prosecutors Tuesday with murder, kidnapping and special circumstances of rape with a foreign object and lewd and lascivious conduct involving a child.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, appeared in a Stockton courtroom for an afternoon arraignment in killing of young Sandra Cantu.

Hours later, authorities again served search warrants at Huckaby's home and the church where she taught Sunday school. Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman confirmed the evening searches, but would not discuss what evidence officers had found or were looking for.

On Tuesday afternoon, Huckaby stood in court wearing a red jail jumpsuit as Judge Richard A. Vlavi read the charges to her. She cried during the proceedings,  prompting public defender Ellen Schwarzenberg put her arm on Huckaby's back -- carressing it as if to calm her down.

Security was tight as relatives of both the victim and suspect quietly watched the court proceedings. Sandra's uncle and aunt, Joe and Angie Chavez were seated in the front row, while Huckaby's father, Brian Lawless and grandmother, Connie Lawless, were seated one row back on the opposite side of the aisle.

Many of them cried softly during the hearing and became especially emotional when the rape allegation was read.

Vlavianos ordered Huckaby to return to court on April 24, when she's expected to enter a plea and at which time defense requests for a mental health examination and gag order are expected to be considered.

The family members for both Huckaby and Cantu all declined comment upon leaving at the end of the hearing, which lasted only several minutes.

The prosecution's court filing alleged the murder occured "with malice of forethought" after Huckaby had kidnapped and molested the girl. The complaint said the murder happened "on or about" March 27, which was the day Sandra disappeared.

Tracy Police Chief Janet Thiessen had said at the time of Huckaby's arrest that it was believed Sandra was already dead at the point she was reported missing.

A conviction on all the charges would make Huckaby eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole, but San Joaquin County District Attorney James Willet said Tuesday that prosecutors hadn't yet determined whether to seek the death penalty.

Sandra was last seen March 27 on a surveillance camera skipping outside the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park where she lived just five doors down from Huckaby. A 10-day massive search ensued and pictures of her were posted all over Tracy, a city of 78,000 people in the Central Valley.

On April 6, Sandra's body was found in a suitcase by farmworkers draining an irrigation pond located only a few miles fromthe mobile home park.

Police have said that the suitcase in the pond belonged to Huckaby, who told CBS 5 in a phone interview shortly before her arrest that it had been stolen from her driveway on the day Sandra disappeared.

Police also 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. Authorities have not said how she was killed, and the coroner's office said autopsy results are still pending.

Huckaby lived with her grandparents five doors down from Sandra in the mobile home park. The little girl was a playmate of Huckaby's 5-year-old daughter, Madison.

Sources close to the investigation told CBS News that police believed Sandra was killed inside the church where Huckaby taught Sunday school.
 
Sgt. Sheneman said that investigators think she acted alone. 

"We have not been provided with (a motive)," Sheneman said. "We don't know why a mother would kill another mother's child."
 
But Sheneman did disclose that Huckaby dated and had a relationship with Christian Sinclair, another mobile home park resident whose home was initially searched by police after Sandra disappeared.

According to court records in San Joaquin County, Sinclair is a repeat offender of domestic violence laws. Several women have taken out restraining orders against him through the years; including hs own mother. 

But Sheneman did not implicate Sinclair in the crime and has previously indicated that no further arrests in the Sandra Cantu case were expected.

Neither prosecutors nor police would provide details on any evidence surrounding the sexual assault allegations. 

"I was hoping that wasn't the case," Sandra's aunt, Angie Chavez, said through tears. "I'm in shock. The whole thing is unimaginable."

In the days after Sandra's body was found, investigators searched Clover Road Baptist Church, where Huckaby volunteered as a Sunday school teacher and her grandfather, Clifford Lawless, is the pastor.

Investigators also interviewed the pastor and seized items from his home. Her family has said they do not know what police were looking for.

Huckaby's family visited her late Monday at the San Joaquin County Jail, where she remains held without bail.

"We're in shock," Brian Lawless, Huckaby's father, said. "The young lady I see on film, that's not my daughter."

Lawless said during the visit, the family cried and prayed together.

Huckaby's relatives described her as a loving mother with a strong religious upbringing.

"The allegations are so far outside what I know about my niece," Huckaby's uncle, Brett Lawless, 48, of Lakewood, said. "Of course there are doubts in my mind. But we understand the police doing their jobs might have some probable cause."

Huckaby grew up in Southern California and spent the several years since high school bouncing back and forth between Tracy and Orange County, her family said.

They've described her as a loving mother who had a strong religious background and wouldn't hurt anyone.

In 2006, Huckaby was convicted of petty theft in Los Angeles County.

Separately, in January, she pleaded no contest to a petty theft charge in San Joaquin County Superior Court. She was sentenced to 3 years probation on the condition that she participate in a county mental health program.

Meantime, Sandra Cantu's slaying had already aroused fear among parents in Tracy and especially in the mobile home complex, where residents described a tight-knit community. News of the rape allegation heightened concern for children.

Josie Orozco, a resident of the mobile home park who attends the same church as Sandra's family, emerged from the courtroom crying after the arraignment. She said that while Huckaby may have appeared remorseful during the hearing, she didn't believe the emotion was genuine.

"She knew what she was doing. She could have asked for help. She could have gone to a doctor if she was sick this way," Orozco said.

Outside the courthouse, four members of the Central Valley chapter of Bikers against Child Abuse came to show support for the victim's family.

"I have a 9-year-old granddaughter and she's scared to death. Her mother doesn't let her outside," said Peggy Faucett of Stockton.

Her husband, James Faucett, called it "the worst crime imaginable, that one of your own neighbors could do something like this."

A public memorial service is scheduled for Sandra Cantu on Thursday at 1 p.m. at Tracy's Merrill F. West High School.

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