Melissa Huckaby pleaded guilty on May 10, 2010 to first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death last year of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. The plea was accepted, in lieu of a trial, by a San Joaquin County judge in exchange for 25 years to life without parole. Her sentencing will take place on June 12.
Cantu was reported missing from her mobile home park on March 28, 2009 and her body was discovered in a suitcase, which belonged to Huckaby, along an irrigation canal on April 7, 2009.
Huckaby, the 28-year-old Sunday School teacher who taught Sandra at the church they both attended, was arrested the next day – see details and more photos here.
Check out raw footage from today’s arraignment below, which includes the last video footage of Sandra Cantu: