Apr 23, 2009 8:38 am US/Pacific
Sandra's Mom Breaks Silence On Murder
Tracy Community Stunned By New Allegations Of January Drugging
TRACY, Calif. (CBS13/AP) ―
The mother of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu spoke out about the death of her daughter for the first time in a nationally televised interview.
Maria Chavez has not spoken publicly about Sandra's murder or the woman who is accused of killing her since the little girl's body was found in a suitcase dumped in a Tracy irrigation pond earlier in April.
On the Wednesday edition of the Dr. Phil show, Chavez spoke through tears about the shock of finding out that 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby was accused of killing her daughter, saying she had spoken with her before the alleged kidnapping and murder.
"When I saw her outside, I talked with her casually," Maria said. "Her daughter didn't come to our house; my kids went over to her house."
When asked to describe her daughter, Chavez began to cry and said she couldn't.
The interview was conducted just hours before a gag order was issued by the judge presiding over the case, preventing all parties involved from talking further about it.
The community of Tracy was abuzz over the news that a mother in the mobile home park where both the suspect and victim in this case lived is accusing Huckaby of abducting and drugging her seven-year-old daughter back in January.
"I'm just very surprised that there was not much more follow-up has been done on it," said Tracy resident Job Sousa. Job and his wife Andrea said they believe Sandra might be alive if Tracy police had pursued the allegations that Huckaby had given another girl muscle relaxers on January 17.
Tracy authorities are not allowed to comment on the case, due to the gag order, but have privately defended their conduct into the January incident.
And we're learning more about Huckaby's alleged involvement with two arson fires.
La Palma police Capt. Jim Enright says 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby was considered a person of interest in two fires set at a home where she lived in 2007.
Enright says the gag order issued Tuesday prevented him from discussing Huckaby further. He says any investigation would halt while the murder case continued.
Authorities said the two fires caused nearly $90,000 in damages.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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