Nearly six years after the murder of 10-year-old Victoria Martens, the jury is now hearing arguments in the case against Fabian Gonzales. The third of the three known suspects in one of Albuquerque's most horrific crimes, Gonzales is facing trial for reckless child abuse resulting in death and tampering of evidence charges.
The case trial is expected to last three weeks before the jury decides on Gonzales' charges. Since Victoria Martens died in August 2016, three people have been arrested: Victoria's mother, Michelle Martens; Michelle's boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales; and Fabian's cousin, Jessica Kelley, according to The Sun.
What happened to Victoria Martens
In 2016, first responders found Victoria Martens lifeless in a bathtub, mutilated, and on fire. Albuquerque Police initially alleged that three suspects injected the girl with drugs, raped, and killed her, then tried to dispose of her body after her mom confessed. But the police dropped the charges later as they could not find evidence linking it to the mom's testimony.
According to Talk Murder with Me, on the day that the girl was murdered, Gonzales and Michelle went out to buy drugs while Victoria was at school. Michelle had been warned that Kelley should not be in the apartment as she was high on drugs.
Despite that, Michelle asked Kelley to pick up her daughter at the bus stop. Victoria managed to get home, and the last time neighbors saw her was at 7:05 p.m. More than an hour later, Kelley and Gonzales dismembered the young girl's body and hid other evidence of the crime while Martens was asleep.
At 4:30 a.m. the next day, the police arrived, apprehending the three adults in the house. Police said that the child died of strangulation.
Michelle Martens and Jessica Kelley
On June 24, 2018, Michelle pleaded guilty to reckless child abuse resulting in death. The mom, who turns 41 this month, is expected to be sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors argue that Michelle was negligent because she left her ten-year-old in the apartment with Kelley, whom she knew was high on drugs and had an extensive criminal record, including convictions for drug trafficking, and conspiracy to commit criminal sexual penetration, KRQE.com reports.
Kelley pleaded no contest to reckless child abuse resulting in death, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit evidence tampering, and three counts of evidence tampering. She was sentenced to 44 years in prison.
The case of Fabian Gonzales
Meanwhile, Gonzales is now facing ten charges. The most serious is reckless abuse of a child resulting in death, which is a first-degree felony. Prosecutors do not believe Gonzales was at the northwest Albuquerque apartment when Victoria was killed. They believed that his actions led to Victoria's horrific death.
Gonzales is facing eight counts of tampering with evidence and one count of conspiracy to commit evidence tampering after evidence indicated that Gonzales dismembered parts of Victoria's body, hiding and washing the clothing and bedding, and washing the knives and an iron.
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