Melissa Huckaby Pleads Not Guilty

A Tracy woman pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that she raped and murdered 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, asserting her innocence three days after the prosecution urged the judge to move the case along.

Melissa Huckaby, 28, making her fourth appearance in a Stockton courtroom since her arrest in April, entered not guilty pleas to murder and special circumstances that make her eligible for execution if convicted.

She also pleaded not guilty to charges of child endangerment and furnishing a harmful substance for allegedly drugging a 7-year-old girl and a man in the months before Sandra died.

Huckaby's preliminary hearing will begin Sept. 24 and will last at least six days over the course of three weeks, said Judge Linda Lofthus of San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Asked by Lofthus if she waived her right to a continuous preliminary hearing - one that proceeds from start to finish without the court breaking for other cases - Huckaby said, "Yes." She smiled several times during the brief hearing as attorneys chatted and made small talk.

Huckaby, who is the mother of one of Sandra's playmates, was arrested April 10 and charged with murder and three special circumstances. Those allege that the killing was committed during a kidnapping, involved a lewd or lascivious act on a child, and involved rape with a foreign object.

Prosecutors had urged Lofthus to enter a plea for Huckaby if the defendant did not do so herself Friday, saying the case was dragging. They have not decided whether to pursue the death penalty.

Huckaby is being held without bail at San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp.
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Sandra Cantu Update 27 May

It is being reported that Sandra Cantu's killer, Melissa Huckaby performed multiple internet searches on Rose Pisam. Pisam disappeared last year in Israel and was missing for several months. Her grandfather, Ronnie Ron was later arrested and admitted to murdering the 4 year old, stuffing her body into a suitcase, and then tossing it into a nearby river. Sound familiar?

At the time Rose and her 23 year-old mother, Marie were living with the grandfather. Ron was having an affair with his daughter-in-law at the time that little Rose disappeared.

Sandra Cantu Update 26 May

The San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office investigated vandalism at Clover Road Baptist Church over the long weekend after the church’s sign was reported to be knocked to the ground.

Melissa Huckaby, accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, taught Sunday school at the church before she was arrested. Her grandfather, Lane Lawless, is its pastor, and the church property has been searched several times during the investigation.

Leaders at the Clover Road Baptist Church told news sources that since Huckaby's arrest, they have received threatening calls. The posts that held up the sign were reported to be broken on Saturday, but officials didn’t speculate as to a motive.

The church is down the road from the mobile home park where both Cantu and Huckaby lived.
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Sandra Cantu Update 25 May

Melissa Huckaby, the former Sunday school teacher accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, will face additional charges that she tried to poison two people, including another 7-year-old girl.

A revised complaint against Huckaby, 28, of Tracy, California, was made public just hours before she was due back in court on Friday.

The new charges caused another delay in the murder case, CNN afiliate KRON reported.

The complaint charged that Huckaby "did willfully and unlawfully mingle a harmful substance with food or drink" with the intent to harm the child, identified only as "Jane M. Doe."

Another alleged poisoning victim was identified as Daniel Plowman, but no age or other information was immediately provided.

The latest charges also include one count of child abuse endangerment relating to the unidentified child, who was allegedly in Huckaby's "care and custody."


Huckaby did not enter a plea in the Cantu slaying in her first two court appearances last month.

At an earlier hearing, Judge Linda L. Loftis agreed to keep the autopsy and toxicology reports under seal, citing a "great danger of public outrage."

If convicted on the murder, rape and kidnapping charges, Huckaby, could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, authorities said.

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