Sandra Cantu Murder: Family of Melissa Huckaby Speaks
Tracy, CA- On Easter Sunday, The Family of Melissa Huckaby, accused in the kidnapping and murder of 8 year old Tracy resident Sandra Cantu, held an impromptu Easter Service at Clover Baptist Church.
Yes, you read that correctly. The family of the woman accused of murdering a child and stuffing her teensy frame into rolling luggage and lobbing her into an irrigation pond, held services celebrating the resurrection of Christ in the very church Police believe Sandra lost her life at the hands of Melissa Huckaby.
Spin Cycle
I will be honest. This article may end up being mostly editorial. I pride myself on being as factually objective as possible when I am writing or reporting on a case; but 9 months stomaching the Anthony’s spew their spin may have done me in. If you are one of those people that saw Cindy Anthony for the very first time and calld BS, then your already on that isle with me in the Cantu case following the press conference of Huckaby’s family.
Other than the blatant need to sanitize the family dynamic and a small lovely child is involved, there are no parallels to the Caylee Anthony case. With the exception, perhaps, of George Anthony’s recent quote:
SHUT UP… SHUT UP….
Above caption is my unsolicted advice slash/ request to the Lawless Family and their known associates.
You should know that we are perched and ready for you are to tell us how “out of character” this was for Melissa Huckaby and how loving of a Mother she was. Here’s a thought. Actual loving and responsible Mother’s do not murder babies, steal things repeatedly, and might even throw in the means to support ones self in the last few years. On Sunday, Brian Lawless, 48, defended his daughter:
“I just can’t comprehend. There are no words,” “She just always had an extra patience with her. Never raised her voice. Never yelled. Never struck her,” Brian Lawless said. “She was that same way with other children. She loved other children.”
So.. I have a few question for the Lawless family.. If your so dumbfounded Melissa could be capable of this, why has Huckaby’s 5 year old daughter been staying with Judy Lawless since the day after Sandra went missing? Please do not expect us to buy that tired “planned vacation” line. Is it possible this child can provide some answers to police as to what happened to Sandra as well as other patterns of her behavior? Tracy Police has stated that Madison Huckaby was not at the home when Sandra Cantu went there that fateful March 27th. Huckaby was scheduled for sentencing on a probation violation for theft on April 17th; Was this some sort of family intervention based on concerns for her own daughter that prompted the attack on Sandra?
BOTH Brian and Brett Lawless are on the schedule as Worship Team participants at their FBMC parish in Bellflower for Easter Sunday services, over 5 hours away from Tracy, CA. What made them pack up the Mission Mobile, hi-tail it to Tracy following Melissa’s arrest and call the press from the car?
I cannot say whether Lawless-Huckaby comes from a “good home” or not. I can only say that I will not stand by while the family of Sandra Cantu has to drive past this crime scene with a front lawn full of folks asking press to report how this girl cannot possibly be capable of what she is being accused of and what a wonderful mother she is. Here is what I am willing to accept on their behalf, until further information is known about what happend to “Sunny” Sandra Cantu:
As the Family of Melissa Lawless Huckaby, we would like to ask the public to pray for the Cantu family, as well as ours, as we begin the quest for answers as to what happened to Sandra; and any possible role Melissa may have played in her death. It is unfathomable to us that she could be capable of what she is accused of and would ask that the public withold judgement until the facts of this case are known. Out of deep respect for the Family of Sandra Cantu, this will be our only statement until we have an opportunity to meet with Melissa and members of the Tracy Police Department. We would ask that our privacy be respected during this this time of grief for our family.
Wouldn’t it be a refreshing change for a family to encourage their loved one to be cooperative with Police, admit their wrongdoing and not take the opportunity to make this about “them”? I do not care to villafy any person’s family that has no involvement in such a heninous act, either directly or peripherally, but I dont care to give them an opportunity to use it as a pulpit either. We are resonable people that are aware that you don’t get to pick your family. If you interject yourselves to defend a child killer, your putting yourselves out there for the scrutiny and the public closet search and we are damn good at it.
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Hi Blink,
I have not heard where Tracy police said that Madison was not in the home on the 27th. I have followed this one from the start..closely…but may have missed it.
I also am going to take a different approach, respectfully, than what you wrote above about the Lawless family. They obviously drove down from their homes five hours away because a family member was arrested for murder and it threw them for a loop. I am sure we all have family members in our close or extended family that have hit a rough patch…is that rough patch a good predictor of murder in the future? I don’t see the correllation. I also have not seen enough of them yet to think they are anything like the Anthony family. What they knew of Melissa was she was a loving mom and daughter. Heck they haven’t even talked to the police yet as per their newsconference. Obviously they are in for huge shocks and their own “coming to Jesus” time on that.
This is one of the strangest cases I have seen. Ever. It is stranger than Casey Anthony as this was not a mother killing her own child. As this one unfolds I think it will be very interesting. Easter services in a possible murder scene aside (note we do not know the murder scene yet), I think this family is deeply religious and celebrating the resurection of Jesus…despite and probably because what they cannot accept/understand about what Melissa is going thru. Perhaps they did it for Sandra as well…. they seemed very concerned about what had happened.
Either way, I haven’t posted here much but do enjoy your writing. This one I just didn’t agree with today though. I am not ready to throw the whole lawless clan under the bus for what we don’t know yet about what happened with Melissa that day.
Nurse- you always have my respect and I do see that side, truly. However, for me, I find it in very poor taste to have an Easter worship in the very church this child is murdered, and stand out front and do damage control, which hopefully was the tone of my piece. I specifically said that I am NOT villafying them, but I do want them to be HONEST, and I dont want to have another spectacle ala Anthony on our hands. This little girl and what happened to her cant be fodder. I am open minded, but I sincerely believe there is more to this case to come, and we agree that it is one of the strangest I have seen. Police have confirmed they believe the murder occurred in the church as of this morning on cbs 13.
Sgt. Sheneman, in response to a reporter question, stated that Madison was not in the home on the 27th, but with no further clarification and the fact that she was staying with her maternal grandmother since the 28th is suspect to me. I remain cautiously open on the Lawless family as we learn more, my dear friend.
B
HEY BLINK..WHAT A HEARTBREAK FOR THE FAMILY OF CUTE LITTE SANDRA…THE ONLY SILVER LINING IS THAT AT LEAST EVIL MELISSA CONFESSED IMMEDIATELY AND DID NOT DRAW THIS ON AD NAUSEUM ABOUT HER “INNOCENCE”..
I AGREE, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW “KIN” OF MURDERERS TAKE THE POSITION LIKE GEORGE ANTHONY IS TAKING REGARDING CASEY IN THAT “ALL THEY HAVE IS CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE BLAH BLAH BLAH…”..AND, AS FOR THE HUCKLEBERRY FAMILY “WAITING UNTIL THE FACTS ARE KNOWN”, I AGREE…SHUT UP—-SHUT UP…..
ALSO, JUST CURIOUS, WHERE DO YOU LIVE ( SINCE YOU COVER COAST TO COAST) AND HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN REPORTING?..
THANK ..IVOIRE
OMG!!!! What is wrong with these people?! How do they not see how disrespectful and sick it is to do this to Sandras family? Have they not been suffering enough? I agree, SHUT UP! SHUT UP! Stop rubbing salt in their wounds you B*STARDS! How dare you try to get any sympathy for a child killer! Families who facilitate these horrific behaviors and make excuses for each other is how we keep having these MONSTERS created! OPEN YOUR EYES! FACE THE UGLY TRUTH!
Thanks for the updates!!!
Thanks Blink…I agree with what you are saying. I hope it doesn’t get any sicker than it already is! (also, I think that cbs article is heavy speculation.. LE has not released anything yet on the location of the murder…)
Something sure is up with this Family. I cannot grasp it. But. apparently they were mad/ashamed of their daughter. He, Melissa’s Father said he hasn’t talked to her in 4 almost 5 months. Why?? I talk with my Mother all the time. I mean this was a religous family who believed in “family”. I think that you are right!! They should encourage their daughter to go on and tell the WHOLE truth. The Aunt was adamant that Melissa was innocent.
If you take a few aspirins with ulcer’s in your stomach IT WILL cause internal bleeding. I heard she had bleeding ulcers.I think she did try to commit suicide. Do you have a date that she went to Tracy Hospital? Was it Mon,Tue,Or Wed??? Monday, after Sandra was found.
The fact that CBS is reporting that she was killed at church IS accurate. Leaks happen.
Blink”s quote so appropriate for the day (and coming months or years),
“If you interject yourselves to defend a child killer, your putting yourselves out there for the scrutiny and the public closet search and we are damn good at it.”
What else can one say, Blink. But for your added reminder of the face of this young victim, Sandra.
Great rant! I am sick of the Anthony family defending that slimeball who murdered Caylee, too. You’re absolutely right, just STFU, Cindy Anthony! Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla blames Cindy’s pathology for creating the murderer mom/sociopath that is Casey. I was giving her the benefit of the doubt until I saw her behavior in the deposition last week. Cindy Anthony doesn’t give a damn about anyone harmed by her daughter. Not Zenaida Gonzalez, not her inconsolable husband, not Casey’s ex-fiance, Jesse, not the bestfriend whose checks were forged, not even her precious grand-daughter. If I were Casey’s mother, I’d be doing everything in my power to assist the police & prosecutor in convicting the killer of my grand-daughter, even if my daughter was the killer.
And this Lawless clan (appropriate surname, isn’t it?), how could anyone in a religious(?), pastoral family not know they had a dangerous sinner among them? Melissa has been in a lot legal trouble, why are they surprised? Yet to them she’s mother of the year? Pardon me while I gag!
I think the whole family is duplicitous, if not the managing members of a pedophile cult. What better cover than that of a church to hide behind?
Their public comments protest way too much. That grandmother running off at the mouth, talking about little Sandra in such glowing terms, makes me want to smack the crap out of her. There’s something rotten going on in that family and their churchs.
I hope LE in California digs deeper and finds the whole truth. Tracy police did not properly investigate the previous drugging of the child brought home by Melissa in the wee hours with narcotics in her system. Let’s hope they’ve learned their lesson and delve into this case completely. This child porno/sex ring needs to be busted up and everyone involved brought to justice.
Hi Blink. I agree with you 100%. It isn’t about proving Melissa’s innocence to the public.Everyone’s first concern should be Sandra Cantu’s family.I understand that this family is religious and they have a right to pray and worship together, but I think they lack respect. Did any of them consider this was the first Easter the Cantu’s spent without their daughter? Why would they call the press? That alone makes me suspicious of the whole family.
Services at the murder site are in HORRIBLE taste! I feel so sorry for the Chavez family having to live right there near these wackjobs.
One report quoted Melissa’s great aunt as saying that Melissa’s 5yo daughter was very thin and got sick all the time. Another report had neighbors describing Melissa as caring for her “ailing” child. I wonder if Melissa was drugging or otherwise harming her own daughter…hmmm. Just interesting to read that.
I prefer to not hear her family say anything. If they do feel the need to pontificate about her past I hope they limit it to why she felt society’s rules and laws did not apply to her. How could she take things that she had not paid for, knowing that other people’s sweat equity had paid for them? What other anti-social behavior had she exhibited? What other crimes had she committed that she was not arrested for? Why was she not working? Why did she feel the need to have children she cannot support? What drugs were in the system of another child that was in her care. What punishment do they think is adequate for the killer of an eight year old turbo-charged fun factory? What made any of them feel a drug user and thief should be entrusted with a Sunday school class?
I do not want to hear any syrup and cinnamon stories. She had a progression of events leading up to this. Each step she took was backwards. Their own decisions about their relationship with her were flawed. So at this time, their silence about their darling 28 y.o. ditchpig is golden.
I have a hard time believing CBS after they used pictures of the wrong Melissa Huckaby! Very poor reporting. If the church is the crime scene then would LE release it back to the Pastor this early? How long does LE usually keep people away from murder scenes? I think it may Melissa’s SUV because last I heard it was still parked at the police station?
What was Melissa Lawless’ father thinking when he let her loose in the world armed only with a high school degree and her looks? (yuk!). She only ever had two choices in life: work in a convenient store or turn tricks. Given her apparent inability to hold down a job stocking shelves and her disgusting looks, it seems she let her daughter (and any little friends who happened by) turn the tricks.
Then sending her loser-ass up to God-forsaken Tracy – one of the ugliest places on the face of this earth – to live in a trailer park no less; even a person of the soundest mental condition would struggle to keep sane if they moved to the Central Valley as adults and were not able to acclimate. There are really only two economic activities that take place in Tracy: the production and serving of massive amounts of low-quality food to keep the native population incredibly fat and child porn (since the adults are all fat and ugly). It looks like Melissa got mixed up in something very bad and combined with her reduced mental state snapped and killed a sweet and innocent child.
But Melissa’s parents should pay a price as well. Just like Casey Anthony (who was at least good looking) what did these parents think their ignorant children were going to end up doing with absolutely no prospects in life due to a lack of education? Here is a clue: send the kids to college and let them gain self esteem and some life prospects.
I wonder if the church name changed in 1998 and why? Or is this another property?
Doc # 98150298
Book
Page
Recording Date 12/16/1998
Recording Time 08:00A
Document Description DEED
Number of Pages 1
Documentary Fee
Grantor Name(s)
TRACY MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
Grantee Name(s)
CLOVER ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH
ok…Something is NOT adding up here. I was skeptical myself, after I heard about the “planned vacation”. How convieniant that Melissa’s daughter leaves on a vacation(without her mother)THE DAY AFTER Sandra went missing. But what really concerns me is the fact that now police are saying that Melissa’s daughter was not even home when Sandra went over there to play. If that is the case, then why would Melissa tell her she cannot come in and play because “my daughter had to pick up her toys”, if her daughter allegedly wasn’t even there?
After watching an old interview (I believe it was from Friday the 3rd) with Connie Lawless from a Salinas news station (I saw it on a youtube link from the mahalo.com website), I have a slightly different view about her. I genuinely think she is in extreme denial and that can lead to the “cold” sounding responses from her.
It’s one thing for all of us to have been surprised that it was a female, mother of one of Sandra’s friends, Sunday School Teacher who committed the crime, but imagine what her family must feel. My brother has been in trouble with the law in a prior drug case in the far past, but if I ever heard he’d hurt or kill a child I would have the same shocked response as her family has.
I do however think it was in absolute poor taste for the family to hold Easter services in that church or to hold a press conference and say the things they said but I think a lot of it is due to them being in total denial because they themselves cannot fathom the fact that she is a child murderer.
Dunn & Bradstreet Listing for Church, available by googling-so public record:
Clover Road Baptist Church
11000 W Clover Rd, Tracy, CA 95376-1703
Contact Phone: (209) 836-4171
URL (web address): http://www.clover-road-baptist-church.com
Business Category: Religious Organization in Tracy, CA
Industry (SIC): Religious Organizations
Christian Family Church: Exciting,Contemporary Spirit- filled church, Word-Based Church,
Business Information:This company profile is for the private company Clover Road Baptist Church , located in Tracy, CA. Clover Road Baptist Church’s line of business is religious organization.
Company Name: Clover Road Baptist Church
Address: 11000 W Clover Rd, Tracy, CA 95376-1703
Alt Business Name:
Location Type: Single Location
Est. Annual Sales: $32,000
Est. # of Employees: 1
Est. Empl. at Loc.: 1
Year Started: 1957
State of Incorp: CA
SIC #Code: 8661
Contact’s Name: Lane Lawless
Contact’s Title: Pastor
NAICS: Religious Organizations
Data above provided by D&B.
Click on the reports tab at the top of the page to research company background, detailed company profile, credit and financial reports for Clover Road Baptist Church.
“Huckaby’s father, Brian Lawless, said he was at a preachers conference in Salinas when he learned of his daughter’s arrest. He told his wife, Judy, who had been on a planned vacation to Northern California with Huckaby’s daughter, Madison, since the day after Sandra went missing.”
4/13/09 San Jose Mercury News: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12129980
“Authorities, so far, have declined to say how or where Sandra was killed. But CBS News, citing unidentified investigators, said Tracy police now believe the killing took place inside Clover Road Baptist Church, where Huckaby’s family offered a prayer Sunday on Sandra’s behalf.”
(same as above) 4/13/09 San Jose Mercury News: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12129980
B – I totally agree with you that for the Lawless clan to hold Sunday services at the church/crime scene is totally rude and suspicious.
Thanks for this website which is a great venue for us to vent, share and document our findings.
C
Blink-Great follow up and I share your disgust for this family. I have this jaded hinky meter, and I would call Melissa’s family arrogant, especially her Father. The planned trip for Madison is just what it is..Melissa was falling apart and they took Madison. The Grandpa is more in touch when he says he will pray for his Grandaughter. He is not doing any denying.
O/T Just when you thought you had heard it all.
Oprah
Guess who is going on Oprah in May? Cindy and George Anthony!!
http://www.fox40.com/pages/landing_sandra_cantu/?Source-Sandra-Cantu-Murdered-In-Church=1&blockID=264993&feedID=2674
Yes, sweeps week no less. Hey everyone, maybe if your planning on offing your kid and getting paid for it, you should consider when it might appear on TV in the timeline. Advertisers pay a premium much, much higher during sweeps! And since we all know they don’t “pay” for interviews; only Fat cash payments for imaging and usage rights which is alltogether different (insert snark snort).. Perhaps you could have your people negotiate that upfront for a better deal.. All on the back of a dead baby.
Here it is, and yes this has me fired up.. D O N T W A T C H I T!!!!!!!!!!
Blink, sorry, I posted the wrong link about Oprah…here is the correct one.
http://www.wftv.com/news/19166427/detail.html
Blink – you have given us something useful to do to prevent this kind of thing from escalating!
The media statement you prepared above is the ONLY decent statement the family of any accused killer should ever be able to make to the press. I realize that media outlets sometimes hide behind First Amendment rights and cater to salacious public appetites. But they all have Standards and Practices departments that deal with ethics and decency. And all of them certainly bow to public pressure.
I’m with you – sometimes I think the level of denial, enabling and obfuscation that has been seen in the Anthony family could possibly be endemic to a family dynamic of persons who perpetrate crimes. If it is not, then the relatives of the accused would have no problem limiting their public remarks to your statement above. If it is, and the dysfunction of outraged self-righteousness persists, then those people should be denied any opportunistic publicity, particularly when the tragic crime is so fresh to the victim’s own family.
I would love it if you were able (or someone you know would be willing) to start a website that states the case for these kind of parameters to avoid adding insult to injury for victim’s family members during similar cases. The public would be able to sign it like an electronic petition and the link could be forwarded to various media outlets and/or advertisers to show that the public is sick and tired of these tasteless and offensive incidents and will consider boycotting the media outlet or advertisers if they allow or participate in such strategies. We all really do need to stand together and voice our disgust.
Could Bipolar Rage explain the actions of Melissa Huckaby?
Is their a history of this behavior in Melissa Huckaby past?
WHY?
Pure evil has no reason, for why it kills the Innocent?
I feel like i can see the motive through the pattern of clues. The first clue is that Lane Lawless kissed Sandra when she was six. The second clue is that Melissa took another six year old girl and drugged her some months ago. And the third clue is that some of the first words our of Melissa’s mouth were “I just want everybody to know that my grandfather did not do this. And then I also think that Lane holding a sermon the next day about Sandra in the church where she was killed is a clue, and the very fact that Melissa killed sandra in her grandfather’s church. Also that Sandra had been depressed, and was always very good to “children and senior citizens”…and that Lane’s wife called Sandra a “little thing” several times in her comments, saying she doesn’t know how somebody could take a little thing like that and abuse her and murder her.
From all of this information I believe Lane abused Melissa when melissa was a child of around six. And with the help of the church and the power structure within the family — the abuse was pushed down in every bodies minds. BUT the childhood trauma was bubbling up in Melissa, which was the root of what brought her stumbling back to live with her grandparents, and at the same time was grappling with depression — because what she was trying to unearth in herself and around her felt too horrible to awaken to too. Lane KISSED Sandra – 2 years ago — and yet he holds himself in such high regard that he felt he could give a sermon about her after she was found dead? This screams pathology to me. He is the classic patriarch who gives himself to abuse because he believes he also can heal his community. Melissa can not question him. Before she says anything, she says – don’t blame my grandfather.
I think she may have even been jealous of Sandra in a morbid way – because her grandfather kissed Sandra — and that may have been just the tip of the ice burg. Melissa may also have seen herself in Sandra. And wanted to kill — the girl she was who felt so much guilt and shame, for the anger she felt for her abuse — that she could not aim towards her abuser.
this is my guess and theory. Melissa Murdered Sandra in a sort of recreation of abuse Melissa recieved from Lane when she was a girl. this is why it was done in the church, and this is why Lane’e wife had the instinct to say that little thing was “abused and murdered when there has yet to be any evidence that there was abuse.
Just documenting….
Link to Huckaby booking sheet: http://207.104.50.87/WhosInCustody/InmateDetails.aspx?ID=DAF0723370D288C6624A7007795233ED2EAD0C27289C93EB37E3E3935AF77065CF16B412EA88CAECE6BC53
The Note
“Melissa Huckaby, the granddaughter of Clover Road Baptist Church’s pastor, the Rev. Lane Lawless, said on Friday that the suitcase in which Cantu was found matched one that was stolen from her. Huckaby also said that she found a note the day after Cantu’s disappearance. According to Huckaby, the note said, “Cantu, Suitcase, Water. The word ‘suitcase’ was misspelled, and there were two street names including the word ‘Whitehall.’”
(source: KCRA3 4/12/09 http://www.kcra.com/news/19149311/detail.html)
Comments:
Thought it odd that the Lawless family was not allowed to talk to Melissa as of yesterday/Sunday 4/12/09, but now realize MH declined to be visited: “As of Sunday, she had declined to be visited by family members, who placed telephone calls and drove to the jail.”
(source: SF Chronicle 4/13/09 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/12/MNVJ171DL5.DTL)
Do we know why the police are certain that no one else was involved in the murder? Ref “‘We’ve never had a case like this,’ Sgt. Tony Sheneman said later. But in the end, police said, it didn’t matter: Sandra apparently had been killed before she was reported missing.”
(source same as above)
And does anyone find this strange?
“At about 10 a.m. last Monday, workers at a dairy farm on rural Whitehall Road, 2 miles from Sandra’s home, reported that they had found a large black suitcase in a collection pond they were slowly draining in order to irrigate fields. For hours, until late in the day, detectives left the suitcase alone while they made a meticulous examination of the area. That night, investigators opened the bag at the county morgue and found Sandra, still in her ‘Hello Kitty’ shirt.”
(source: same as above)
They took the suitcase to the morgue BEFORE opening it?? Huh??
JUST IN…
KTLA News April 13, 2009
“Prosecutors say they’re considering rape and molestation allegations against the woman suspected of killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.”
(source: http://www.ktla.com/landing_topstories/?Sex-Charges-Possible-Against-Woman-Accus=1&blockID=252627&feedID=1198)
OMG!!!
The San Francisco paper says the DA is considering rape and molestation charges now??? with a foreign object!! so sick!
I feel so bad for Sandras family..
Can you check this out? it only gets worse…
Here is what it says,
San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Robert Himmelblau said Monday that a homicide charge against Huckaby could include the special circumstances of rape with a foreign object, lewd and lacivious conduct with a child and murder in the course of a kidnapping.
Himmelblau wouldn’t provide more details. Huckaby is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
More links…
Undated cell phone photo provided by the family of MH: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hFkAcbDiaWNAlvTeLoNfmALikD3gD97HPUHG0
Observation:
Interesting that Connie Lawless, mother of MH, knew of the abuse before it was made public today:
“She was at our house quite often,” Connie Lawless said. “She was the sweetest little thing. It breaks our heart to think that anyone would take such a tiny little thing, abuse her and murder her.”
(source same as above)
CORRECTION:
The link to the Connie Lawless’ quote was from Sept 7, 2009
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/07/MN8016UFO2.DTL
Sorry!!!! The date is APRIL 7, 2009!!
That press conference by the Huckaby family was disgraceful indeed. They’re in no position to be asking for anything, especially not to be left alone to celebrate/worship on Easter as if nothing had happened. And not to give one’s name? Huh? Dude, you’re standing in front of cameras and reporters of your own volition. Your family member is accused of murdering a child. Time to give it up.
I agree with the content of Blink’s suggested statement.
But even so, I would have gone a step further and had the family say, “We understand that nothing we’re going through even comes close to what the Cantu family is dealing with. We still have the chance to speak to Melissa, and when we do, we will be telling her to give her full cooperation to the police. As a family, we promise to do the same, as the criminal justice system deals with this matter from here. If Melissa is guilty of this heinous act, the fact that she is our family member will not prevent us from desiring that she receive the full punishment due for this horrendous act. We pledge our full cooperation to law enforcement and we will do everything we can to help the Cantu family and this community heal to any extent possible, recognizing that the scars of this incident, in many respects, are permanent and incompensable. We will not make further public statements because we may be called as witnesses in the case against Melissa, or by her own attorney once she has one. Because of our deep respect for the integrity of the criminal justice system, and our desire to see it work properly as intended in this matter, we will not be making further public comment until it has run its course. Finally, we call on everyone who hears this statement to pray for and offer assistance to the Cantus in whatever way you can.”
well said
Nika: Sorry to poke holes in your theory, but one important fact you stated was incorrect and needs to be corrected. It was not Lane Lawless that kissed Sandra at the pool when she was 6. It was Frank the karate teacher.
Nika- I read that it was Frank Wohler that kissed Sandra, I hadn’t heard anything about Lane Lawless kissing her. This whole story is getting to be a tangled web and some of the information makes it a little more confusing.
How is the Sinclair guy fitting in to the whole thing? I thought I read somewhere that he is somehow tied in with Melissa.
I read somewhere that Melissa asked Sandra’s sister Miranda to watch her daughter while she went to the church, but Connie Lawless was still home so why would Miranda need to watch Melissa’s daughter?
Have they interviewed any of the children involved? Like Sandra’s sister if indeed she was at Melissa’s house, or Melissa’s daughter?
It’s so strange that during that time of evening, in a trailer park with narrow streets and homes so close together and even surveillance cameras, that someone didn’t see more. Did Sandra leave willingly thinking she was going to quickly help take things to the church where she was murdered?
I’m sure that so much more information will come out during the next few weeks…and we will all be even more disgusted and upset than we already are with this whole case.
I was already a paranoid parent, trusting very few people with my children…now that list has become even shorter!
nika – Pastor Lawless was NOT the one who kissed her on the mouth when she was 6. Man’s identity was made public and it was not Lane.
Cathy, I don’t find it strange at all they didn’t open the bag. MH had already shared this discovery of this note stating Cantu, suitcase, water. A dead body also has a very distinct smell. They knew the suitcase contained her body and its better to preserve any evidence by keeping it intact where opening it can be properly documented with video or photos. That is one thing wrong with the CSI shows. They always show them immediately opening things. Doesn’t work that way in real life. You need to document how it was discovered or defendants will try and claim it was planted.
And people, stop making such a big deal about Connie saying the girl was abused. First, didn’t most of us already assume that?? She could have just been stating her beliefs.
And second, this was said after they were interviewed by the cops. The cops may very well have said she was abused. Interrogation techniques include pulling on the heart strings of people. Might have said this even tho they weren’t aware of it themselves. Cops often lie as part of their interrogations…
I agree that it was horrible to hold a service in that church but what angered me the most was this part of the Lawless family’s statement:
“We know that the church property has been the focus of some of the investigation and we are distressed that at the possibility that such a tragedy might have happened in a place of worship,” Brett Lawless said.
WTF?? That fact is that a beautiful child was murdered, where it took place doesn’t change the facts. The Lawless’ were so distressed that they then decided to have an easter service there. I don’t get self-righteous religious freaks!!!
I love that part of the statement about Melissa allegedly being such a great mother was she never yelled at her daughter. Yea right. Show me any mother who has never raised her voice to her 5 year-old child.
I’m with you. Shut up, shut up.
In response to #30 from Cathy…Connie Lawless is MH’s grandmother. MH’s father is Connie’s son. I do believe that the family could have held their Easter Service back in Bellflower at their son’s own church..rather then the church that has had crime scene tape around it..they clearly were not thinking of the effect this would have on the locals.
I also think that it is very relevant to the other child porn crimes that the area seems to have in abundance. I think she was someone who was probably on the fringes of that. I think more info will come out on this late.
Nika, Check the facts before you write a long, drawn out post that names the WRONG perp as to who kissed Sandra. The Karate instructor kissed her. Nobody has ever said Lane Lawless kissed Sandra. Its things like that, that start rumors and slander. The preacher should not be spoken of like that until it is stated by LE that he did something. Just because his GD did this does not mean he had anything to do with it. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to be held accountable for the things my family members did. I am ONLY accountable for what I DO.
Thanks so much for having a website supportive of victims of violent crimes, and victim families, rather than an apologist board. I cannot tolerate the attempts to rationalize this perpetrator’s acts.
Tracy Press does allow comments on their article. There is a woman there who is blaming the Cantu family for allowing Sandra to play outside of her home, calling them negligent, and the “catalyst” that caused Sandra’s death.
As a mother who buried my own 14-year-old son 7 years ago, I am outraged by the attempt to cast the family of the suspected murderer and the suspected murderer herself, as the victims in this situation. This woman, who posts (on the Tracy Press board) that she works with City of Tracy, and helped to clean up the memorial to Sandra, has posted publicly again and again, her accusations that the Cantu family is responsible for her death. She goes on to say that people should be sympathetic with Melissa’s family, since they too lost their daughter.
I am outraged. I cannot imagine the level of depravity required to murder a child. I find it spit in the face of every family who has lost a child, that some woman who claims to have “helped the Cantu family” by removing the memorial, is an apologist on behalf of the suspect, and disregards the significance of the traumatic loss of a child.
As for Tracy, it is a bedroom community to the SF Bay Area. The real estate is cheaper, and it is, largely, a commute town, with one or more parents commuting for work. It’s in the valley, so it’s hot. There is certainly a bigger “bang for your buck” in the real estate market there, than the east bay, and it’s a short drive away.
The suspect’s family seem suspiciously defensive. Not only of the suspect, but of their family situation. I agree with the poster who asked why it was that people didn’t ask their family members to take responsibility for their behavior.
I don’t want to hear about how tough it is for the “poor Huckaby family”. They are NOT the victims in the murder of Sandra Cantu. They may experience peripheral damage, but they are clearly not the victims.
Mackiez Mom-
Ty and I am sorry for your loss. I believe as another poster said earlier that the family should be limited in what they say in a criminal investigation in deference to the victims and their families. I dont care how this girl ran amuck, in the words of my dear friend. Huckaby is a ditchpig to me. She molested and brutalized an innocent little girl, the image of which I will never forget. That’s what happened, we go from there. I stand for Sandra.
B
Yall seem to want everybody to be in some sort of guilty conspiracy. Connie Lawless said it was awful that a little gil she KNEW was abused and murdered right after this little girl’s body was found stuffed in a suitcase that had been thrown into a drainage pond. And some crackpot is accusing the suspect’s father of child abuse when she can’t even get the publicly reported name right? I thought stuffing a child (or her body) into and suitcase was abusive too and I wasn’t having a ESP moment. I do not know who murdered this sweet looking child but I sure would not want yall on a jury if I were ever tried for a crime since nobody would ever have any chance of a fair trial.
Clearly Becca, you have only read comments to support your rant. I would invite you to read others to round out your opinion, there are hundreds.
B
I agree, there is no way a person should have went to that church for services….to me, that went on about their lives having service in a church where a little girl was raped and killed. People have every right to worship God, but even if I did I dont think I could do so in a place that something like this happened. They could have held services ANYWHERE, you dont even have to have a church to worship God, so why would they do this on a day like Easter…I just feel it was wrong….
Blink, what are your thoughts of anyone else being involved, I thought it was suspicious that the Williams man knew of the suitcase missing and had a yard sale the next day…..Could it at all be possible that Melissa was involved but also taking the wrap for someone else??? Just a thought-hope i dont start a debate with this one.
Did I miss something here? Where was the part in the press conference where Melissa’s family apologized to Sandra’s family for their loss?!! they are only focused on their sweet innocent Melissa… who’s actions were “out of character” even though she’s a drug addict and has been accused of child abuse before.
If this diabolical crime was committed against Sandra @ that church … that church should be burned to the ground (exclaimer: I am not encouraging any acts by individuals against any church… however, if God himself saw it fit to stir up a bad thunder storm… throw out a bolt of lightning that strikes the church… well, I think that would be a very divine intervention!)
I was searching myspace and facebook to see if melissa huckaby has either site, and it looks like she does have a facebook account. Of course her profile is set to private, you have to be a “friend” to see her profile, but it does show a picture of her smiling with a girlfriend. I would be interested to see if authorities could get into her profile to see if she had posted anything unusual on her site..or at least to talk to some of her “friends” on the site to see what they say. Just a thought…
I’m in full agreement with your suggested statement by family, Blink. I think it is natural for families, especially close-knit ones, to come together in support of a family member. I think initial disbelief is also natural when the monster portrayed is not the person they’ve known. What disgusts me is that these people of God have the audacity to speak what they did, where they did. Save it for the sentencing hearing.
Something I haven’t heard said here… We know that MH has refused visits with her family. I see this as very telling in a couple of ways.
1) This is Shame in it’s purest form. She can’t bear to face them knowing that the people who love her most will come to see the monster she’s hidden from them. (How she came to be this monster may be shown at trial but is ultimately a non-issue for me. Sandra is dead and, if guilty, there’s not one thing this woman can say that should diminish her accountablity. If she was nuts, she knew it and should have sought help before it was too late.
2) I think that if her family were involved in any way she would want to meet with them to plan her defense & how to keep any other names out of it. I think this correlates with the TPD’s stance that she acted alone. If someone else was involved in Sandra’s murder, I don’t think it was a family member. Time will tell.
The Huckaby family shouldnt have even done the “press conference”..they deserve NO time in the spotlight. They dont need to pledge Melissas innocense (well Melissa herself isnt even doing it, so why should they)….Like ive said from the beginning this type of thing is “OUT OF CHARACTER” for everyone, that doesnt stop it from happening and doesnt give an excuse for it…the truth is people snap, people do the unthinkable…the only thing that is accepting of the matter is their guilty plea, their apologies, and then the death penalty….murderers dont where signs or labels, so of course this type of thing was out of charracter for Melissa Huckaby.
This case bothers me so much. The fact that a woman, a mother, would have done these atrocities and that her family would have the audacity to publicly ask our support for her makes me very angry. They SHOULD have asked that she cooperate and do whatever necessary to resolve this situation. I support what you have said. It is often I have found myself in your position and there are many that would like me to soften my words and approach. This post is as muddled as my thoughts on this situation. I cant get over how heinous this is to me. I keep going back to the last day of Sandra’s life and how scared she must have been to have those evil eyes, ones that she trusted looking in to hers as she died. I think I will save my love, support and prayers for Sandra and her family. Thank you very much.
You know what? They are simply expressing their emotions and how they feel. I think we should put ourselves in their shoes. What if one of your family members committed some horrible crime? I’m sure you would probably feel shocked, devestated, etc… unless you hated your family member, I guess. But, they’ve done nothing wrong, and the police have said that no one else was involved. You are NOT guilty by association, and there is nothing wrong with expressing your emotions.
Criminals family’s are often victims themselves because they are often hated and accused of things just as much as the criminal, even if their only “crime” was loving the criminal or maybe not realizing that the criminal was capable of his/her crimes. I think it’s wrong to villainize them.
If it comes out that they were involved, then hate away. But don’t make them guilty by association or just because he was questioned. Several other people were questioned, and that’s routine on cases, but certaintly, many people questioned on cases are innocent.