10-YEAR-OLD GIRL BRUTALLY KILLED
Mother, boyfriend and female relative expected to be charged in connection to slaying, APD says
A 10-year-old Albuquerque girl was brutally slain in her family’s Northwest Albuquerque apartment complex early Wednesday, hours before she was to celebrate her birthday at a party complete with manicures and cake.
And late Wednesday night, officers announced multiple arrests — the girl’s mother will face charges in connection with her death, along with the mom’s boyfriend and another woman. Police had not said what those charges were or released details about what the suspects were accused of.
The girl’s mother Michelle Martens, 35, and her boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, 31, were expected to be booked into jail late Wednesday.
A third suspect, 31-year-old Jessica Kelley, is also facing charges but remained at the hospital Wednesday night, according to Albuquerque police spokesman Tanner Tixier. He said she is the cousin of Martens or Gonzales, but he didn’t know which.
Amanda Wilson, one of the girl’s neighbors, said an officer told her the girl was violently killed and the crime scene was one of the worst he had ever seen.
Police have said the 10-year-old girl died, but have not released more information. They asked the
media not to report details of the slaying that did not come from them because detectives were still conducting initial interviews.
Laura Bobbs, a minister and close friend of the girl’s family, arrived at the scene at the Arroyo Villas Apartments near Golf Course and Irving around mid-day. She was sobbing and yelling.
“No, no, no, say it ain’t so,” she pleaded outside the crime tape. “Who does this to a little child? Oh Jesus. Oh what evil. What is happening to this world, that they would kill a little child?”
At an afternoon news conference outside police headquarters, Police Chief Gorden Eden called the crime a “horrific tragedy.”
“When something like this happens to our community it has an effect on each and every one of us,” he said. “I will assure the public that we will pursue justice and we will make sure that we exhaust every resource into this investigation.”
He said officers were first called to the scene around 4:30 a.m. for a reported battery.
“When (officers) arrived, they found a deceased victim,” he said. “The victim was 10 years of age.”
He did not release the girl’s name, saying not all of her family members had been notified.
Neighbors said the dead 10-year-old lived with Martens, Gonzales and her younger brother. A cousin had recently moved in with them, according to neighbor Pauline Quintana.
Gonzales has faced multiple previous criminal cases dating back to 2004, including a felony child abuse charge in August 2014. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor abandonment of a child in February 2015, according to online court records.
Kelley has a history of felony drug-related charges and misdemeanor battery and domestic violence, most of which had been dismissed without prejudice.
Martens has no criminal history in New Mexico, according to online court records.
Quintana said the girl who was killed was outgoing and had seemed happy and excited Tuesday about her birthday. She was running around showing her neighbors a kitten and talking about her party.
“She seemed fine, she didn’t seem scared or upset,” Quintana said. “She was all happy.”
Bobbs said she had planned the birthday celebration for the girl when she got home from school after early dismissal from Petroglyph Elementary School on Wednesday afternoon.
“We were going to do pedis and manis and have cake,” she said. “She told me, ‘Auntie, I’m turning 10, so don’t buy me any toys.’ ”
So Bobbs said she bought her lip gloss and a necklace inspired by her favorite movie, “Frozen.”
“I had it engraved in the back: From Auntie Laura,” she said.
Quintana said neighbors are in shock. Many of them milled around the crime scene Wednesday talking about what had happened and crying.
“My stomach has been hurting, I’m crying off and on,” Quintana said. “I think we’re all freaking out.”
Wilson said the 10-yearold was best friends with her daughter and they spent nearly every day during summer break playing in the apartment complex’s pool. She said she didn’t know how to tell her daughter what had happened to her friend.
“My daughter’s going to be devastated; she knows something’s going on,” Wilson said. “She was looking for her at the bus stop.”
Bobbs said although she herself counsels people during grief, she is struggling to cope with the girl’s death.
“This is a mean and terrible world we are living in,” Bobbs said. “Such innocence. Why? She hasn’t done anything to anybody.