Melissa Huckaby Sentenced to Life

      Melissa Huckaby was a sunday school teacher in Northern California. An unlikely person to be in court for the kidnapping and murder of an 8 year old girl. The eight year old girl was Sandra Cantu from Tracy California. She was a play mate of Huckaby’s daughter. The two were often seen playing in the mobile home park where Huckaby lived. Witnesses say they saw Sandra with Huckaby’s daughter going toward Huckaby’s home the day she disappeared. The next time any one would see Sandra would be after they found her body, stuffed in a suitcase and thrown in a drainage ditch. This must have been a parents worst nightmare.

       Huckaby, being a mother herself and a close neighbor of the Cantu family, finally admitted to the atrocity committed in order to avoid the death penalty. This plea deal granted her the  right to live, but now she is destined to die in prison. Today, June 14th, 2010 was the  last day for her to speak any peace she may have and to hear the thoughts of Sandra’s family. Huckaby, in tears, apologized and addressed Sandra’s mother directly saying,”"She did not suffer, and I did not sexually molest her.” This is news that I can’t imagine hearing about my child, let alone while I was looking at the person responsible for taking her life. I suppose this was the only amount of comfort that Huckaby had left to give.

      After the trial was all said and done, Huckaby was found guilty. This comes as no suprise with a confession to paint her hands red. She was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay a trivial $8,000 in retributions to the Cantu family for the guilty charge of kidnapping. Now that the Judicial System is done with this case one can’t help but think that only a minor slice of justice was served. The Cantu family said that nothing done in courts could possibly repair the damage done. Now in Northern California there is one family that has lost a daughter and another family whose daughter has lost a mother. The reason for this crime is still unknown and can never be rationalized.