The Albuquerque Police Department has revealed more details in the horrifying case of a murdered 10-year-old New Mexico girl whom they found on Wednesday morning in the bathtub of a northwest Albuquerque apartment complex. The report states that the girl was injected with methamphetamine before being sexually assaulted, strangled, and also stabbed to death before she was dismembered.
According to the police report made public by the department on Thursday, the murdered child has been identified as Victoria Martens and when she was found in the Arroyo Villas apartments near Irving and Golf Course in New Mexico, her mutilated body was in the bathtub, partially wrapped inside of a towel and on fire.
APD: Mom, 2 others drugged 10-yr-old girl before killing her https://t.co/aEXfRcgckW w/@EliseKaplanNM @PerezNicoleM pic.twitter.com/kIHAdsQVKp
— Robert Browman (@robbrow) August 25, 2016
Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden, Jr. said that the police were first alerted to the incident when a caller contacted the police dispatcher a little before dawn on Wednesday to report that there was a disturbance in the apartment. The 10-year-old New Mexico child had been brutally murdered and officials in the county have called it the worst case they have ever encountered.
“This homicide is the most gruesome act of evil I have ever seen in my career. A complete disregard of human life and betrayal by a mother. So many are in need of the support and prayers of our community.”
Michelle Martens, Victoria’s 35-year-old mother, along with Michelle’s 31-year-old boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, have confessed to the abuse and murder, stating that they injected methamphetamines into the 10-year-old girl’s system in order “to make her calm down so they could do what they wanted with the little girl.”
Gonzales’ cousin, 31-year-old Jessica Kelley, will also be charged by the police in the case of the brutal murder, but for now Kelley is in a hospital recovering from injuries it is believed she sustained while attempting to flee the scene. She has refused to speak to the police but will nonetheless be arrested once she is released.
When the police arrived at the scene, Kelley was the only one in the apartment and bolted the door and jumped off the balcony in an attempt to escape police custody. As the authorities were catching all three of the suspects, one officer entered the apartment and it was then that they saw smoke coming from the bathroom and discovered the lifeless, mutilated and burning body of the New Mexico girl.
KOB reported that the charges against Michelle Martens and Fabian Gonzales are for kidnapping, child abuse with great bodily harm, two counts of child abuse, as well as two counts of conspiracy, tampering with evidence and also for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Gonzales will also be charged with criminal sexual penetration of a minor under the age of 15.
Victoria Martens had just celebrated turning 10-years-old the day before she was murdered.
Albuquerque police spokesman Tanner Tixier spoke at a news conference on Wednesday night also calling the case “horrific.” Tixier also says that the report the police presented is “one of the worst things I’ve read in my entire life.” A conversation with the detectives who interacted with the suspects revealed that despite the fact that the victim was her daughter, Martens showed no remorse for the murder.
“I can’t speak to what this mother was planning for her child other than the horrific events that happened to this child. I would find it hard to believe that she was planning a birthday party for this child.”
According to KOAT, Albuquerque Public Schools has confirmed that the 10-year-old girl was a student at Petroglyph Elementary and they will be making grief counselors available to the students at the school. The Children, Youth, and Families Department has relayed to the media that they will also begin doing their own investigation once the police have called them to the scene of the crime.
Hopefully they pay for their treachery https://t.co/BdYmrGbt8N
— Tim January (@TimothyJJanuary) August 26, 2016
In her confession, Martens said that after Gonzales and Kelley gave her daughter methamphetamine to “calm her down so they could have sex with her,” Gonzales sexually assaulted young Victoria while Kelley covered the child’s mouth and Martens watched. The mother also reportedly told the police that once they were finished, Kelley stabbed the girl in the chest after Gonzales choked the girl to death before dismembering her. However, Gonzales denies that he had any involvement in the brutal murder of young Victoria and that it was Kelley who killed her.
The man states that a little after midnight, he and Martens fell asleep and were awakened by his cousin about 1:40 a.m and she appeared to be hiding something behind her back. She asked them if they believed in Jesus just moments before they were both struck with an iron and were forced to flee. Martens reportedly did have a head injury when apprehended, while Gonzales was sporting a black eye as well as a cut over his left eye.
On Thursday, a judge set the bond for both Martens and Gonzales at $1 million, cash-only. Michelle Martens does not have a criminal history, but Gonzales had a probation violation against him already and is believed to pose a risk to the community. The judge said that Martens is also a risk to society along with being a flight risk.
Gonzales’ previous convictions have been for domestic violence, as well as false imprisonment, while Kelley was only released from prison 10 days ago and has a criminal history that dates back to 2005 and includes battery, methamphetamine trafficking, assault on a peace officer, and sexually assaulting an inmate.
A birthday celebration had been planned for Victoria Martens on Wednesday night.
[Photo by Russell Contreras/AP Images]
Victoria Martens Update: Officers Release Horrific Details Of Murdered/ Dismembered New Mexico Girl — Body Found Burning In Bathtub, Mother Michelle Martens Arrested is an article from: The Inquisitr News