New Mexico mom charged in death of daughter who was raped and dismembered

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

New Mexico mom charged in death of daughter who was raped and dismembered

Posted August 26, 2016 - 9:12pmUpdated August 26, 2016 - 9:14pm


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The killing this week of a 10-year-old Albuquerque girl who was drugged, raped and dismembered is just the latest horrific child slaying case for New Mexico, which has the nation’s highest youth poverty rate and a state government that has had heavily publicized difficulties protecting children from abuse.

Victoria Martens was not known to have been a victim of previous violent abuse. But officials acknowledged Friday that the man accused of injecting her with methamphetamine before raping her was not being monitored by probation officers or tested for drugs as mandated by a judge last year.

In that case, 31-year-old Fabian Gonzales was arrested for beating another woman in a car with a baby inside it while the woman was driving and ended up pleading no contest to two misdemeanor crimes that kept him out of jail. Corrections department officials said Friday they never got the judge’s order for him to be supervised by probation officers.

Victoria’s death follows a 40-year prison sentence handed down in May for an Albuquerque woman for the 2013 kicking death of her 9-year-old son. That case prompted an overhaul of the New Mexico state agency that investigates child abuse.





Read more: http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/new-mexico-mom-charged-death-daughter-who-was-raped-and-dismembered

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[center]


Victoria Martens, killed on her 10th birthday.



Fabian Gonzales, Jessica Kelley, Michelle Martens (child's mother) [/center]

Third suspect in Victoria Martens’ death jailed

J.R. Oppenheim, Kai Porter and Kasia Gregorczyk
August 26, 2016 06:25 PM



The third suspect accused in the death of a 10-year-old girl is now in jail.

Jessica Kelley, 31, was released from UNM Hospital Friday and has been booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center. Kelley, along with Michelle Martens and Fabian Gonzales are accused in the rape, death and dismemberment of 10-year-old Victoria Martens – the horrifying crime that has left Albuquerque shaken.

Police reports state Victoria was drugged with methamphetamine before Gonzales sexually assaulted the child. Gonzales said Kelley killed the girl, but Michelle Martens said Gonzales strangled the girl and Kelley stabbed her in the chest, according to the criminal complaint.

Kelley was in the hospital since Wednesday morning. Police say she jumped off an apartment balcony as officers showed up to the grisly murder scene.


More:
http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/third-suspect-in-victoria-martensrsquo-death-jailed/4246610/

[GeoWilliam750]

1. What breathtaking evil

I am generally against the death penalty, but this is a rare case where it seems appropriate.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

3. I agree, sadly.

I can't imagine how a parent would take part in such a horror.

[marble falls]

4. Every time I think I've heard the worst .... I'll be thinking about this for a while. RIP, Victoria.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Suspect's grandfather: Granddaughter deserves death penalty

Suspect's grandfather: Granddaughter deserves death penalty

Published 4:22 PM MDT Aug 27, 2016

What we know: Victoria Martens killing



ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —The grandfather of one of the suspects in the brutal killing of 10-year-old Victoria Martens said if New Mexico had the death penalty, she would deserve to be punished under it.

Jessica Kelley’s grandfather said he last saw her three years ago when they attended church together as a family. He says now the family has basically cut ties with her.

“I never thought that she'd be able to do anything like that. I never thought she would hurt a child,” he said.

He said he was shocked to hear that his granddaughter was involved in the grisly slaying.

“All I know is that she had a good childhood. She was raised in church,” he said.


More:
http://www.koat.com/news/suspects-grandfather-granddaughter-deserves-death-penalty/41401024

[Democat]

7. "She was raised in church"

Many people who turned out to be evil were raised in a church. That alone doesn't mean anything.

[JesterCS]

10. The worst ones usually are n/t

[LanternWaste]

14. Post hoc ergo prompter hoc.

Post hoc ergo prompter hoc. We may never say it as such, but it's certainly a bias-confirming fallacy.

[Sand Rat Expat]

6. I have no words for this.

I think of myself as a peaceful person, but if I were put in the same room with any of these three... creatures... I'm not sure I would be able to resist doing some violence. This is just monstrous. I don't understand how one human being can inflict something like this on another human being, especially a child.

RIP Victoria. I'm sorry we as a society failed to protect you. We must do better.

[EL34x4]

8. This is one of those stories I can't stop thinking about.

Usually I can tune out most of the pain and suffering in the world. Not with this.

Mom's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.martens.125

[Judi Lynn]

13. Wow. Seeing that adds all kinds of layers of wild struggle to this story.

It should tell anyone to stay as far away from meth as possible, and anyone who would use it.

The mother's face looked completely out of touch in every photo.

Poor, poor children. Their lives had to be insane. They looked anxious, not at all relaxed, or at ease in any of them.

The son is old enough now he will be left with very clear memories of his sister. He has a lot to work through in the coming years.

Thank you, EL34x4, for adding that information.

[EL34x4]

15. It's really disturbing seeing all the photos of her kids on the walls.

As if at some point, she was a normal, loving mother.

[Judi Lynn]

17. It did appear she was really trying during that time.

I saw one of her neighbors said, a lady who was asked to be the girl's godmother, that no one at the apartment complex where the mother had lived for 5 years had any idea she was a druggie, or that there was any trouble there at all.

No one knew an ex-con and his recently released ex-con cousin were staying there.

Incomprehensible.

The constant references she made to Jesus in her Facebook entries makes it appear she was really struggling with her problems, trying very hard to believe somehow to break through her dependency.

[smirkymonkey]

9. This is just unbearable!

That poor child!

[joeybee12]

11. Unspeakable evil

Poor little girl

[KatyMan]

12. Drugs

Meth is a horrible evil that afflicts so much of our society now. The damage it has done to individuals and families is incalculable. Sadly, I don't even know what anyone can do about it.

[EL34x4]

16. Albuquerque, aside from being the setting for "Breaking Bad"

Indeed has a serious problem with meth, I've been learning. Additionally, it has had more than its share of unspeakably violent crimes against children, mostly committed by addicts. Seems ABQ has a child welfare system that's poorly funded and overworked.

This case might be the final straw. The good people of Albuquerque are beyond disgusted.

[Judi Lynn]

18. Bad news to hear the problem with meth wasn't just for dramatic effects in that series.

So sorry learning it's a serious problem there. That town has had a trouble history, it could use a break.