APD: Mom, boyfriend arrested in disturbing rape and murder of 10-year-old girl (Albuquerque, NM)

KOB Channel 4 ^ | August 25, 2016 | Kai Porter, Caleb James and J.R. Oppenheim

[IYAS9YAS]

Charges have been brought against three people in connection with the horrific death of a 10-year-old girl at a westside apartment complex.

Police found the slain girl inside a unit at the Arroyo Villas Apartment Complex on Irving Boulevard near Golf Course Road on Wednesday morning.

Late Wednesday night, 31-year-old Fabian Gonzales and 35-year-old Michelle Martens were booked into custody. Police say they are dating. 31-year-old Jessica Kelley was hospitalized, an APD spokesperson said, and will be booked after she is released. She is Gonzalez's cousin. Police also confirmed Martens is the girl's mother. According to APD, the three tortured the girl by drugging and raping her.

"They injected this little girl with methanphetamines to make her calm down so they could do what they wanted to do to this little girl," said APD spokesman Tanner Tixier.

She was stabbed and strangled to death. Police say the three then tried to dispose of her lifeless body.

All three are charged with kidnapping, child abuse resulting in death, and tampering with evidence. Gonzales and Kelly face rape charges.

Both Martens and Gonzales were bloodied and bruised during the arrest. Police say it was likely caused by them fighting each other after the murder.

Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden said his officers responded to the apartment around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday for a battery call. Eden said there was some kind of altercation at the apartment and some people involved had serious injuries.

That is also when officers discovered the girl’s body. The department has not released the girl’s name.

Eden wanted people to know his investigators would thoroughly examine the crime scene.

“We are working thoroughly on this case to build the right case, to build the right charges,” he said. “Our investigators are combing through every piece of evidence at this home. We will not rush this investigation.”

KOB reporters at the scene saw investigators focusing on a balcony on a second-story apartment at the complex. They report the APD also brought in a cherry picker for detectives to look down at the apartment’s roof.

A reporter spoke with a woman, Laura Bobbs, who knows the girl very well. She said the girl’s birthday was Tuesday, a day before her body was found. Bobbs said she and the girl planned to celebrate the child’s birthday Wednesday after school with manicures, pedicures and cake.

"Who does this? I counsel people. I council people in grief. I'm a grief counselor. I have a degree in psychology. You would think I would be stronger than this, but when it's you that it happened to, who's going to council me? Who's going to help me through this?" Bobbs said.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said responded to the child's death, saying, “there are no words that can convey the sorrow and sadness I feel for the innocent child who was killed in this atrocious attack. What happened to this little girl is unspeakable, and justice should come down like a hammer on the monster who committed this murder.”

[mumblypeg]

Yikes. You and your wife could have ended up in the garden.

[utahagen]

Ms. Bobs knew this child personally and was reacting soon after hearing this horrible news. I’m inclined to give her a pass.

[Paleo Pete]

Could have been him, he wasn’t in Florida long before he was caught. Long enough to do a lot of damage though...and the Volkswagen he was driving was stolen. Stupid move...If I remember right he was caught after running a stop sign, and was driving drunk. I don’t think I have it any more, but Ann Rule wrote a very good book about him. May have given it to my neighbor, she loves those books and I’ve given her at least 20.

Bundy was originally identified by a girl who got away, I think on the west coast somewhere, either Washington or Oregon if I remember correctly. She got her chance and jumped out of the car and ran. That was the first time they got enough info to put a face to the person they were after, but still didn’t have a name yet. Just a general idea, but good enough to have an idea what to look for, and an MO. Or one of them...he used different methods to lure girls into his car. In some cases using a fake cast to get them to help him put something in the car. That was used in Silence of the Lambs too. That’s how Buffalo Bill got the victim who got him caught eventually. Directly from Bundy. He also helped officials get a better idea of how serial killers think.

The last few, and the ones in the sorority house, were some of the worst. Pretty typical, most serial killers escalate or evolve as they do more and more. The first couple are just killed and dumped, then they start getting more violent and gruesome as they go, many eventually going as far as cannibalism and necrophilia. Most start saving “trophies” fairly early. Dahmer was an extreme example of that. The general thought is that he was so seriously affected by his parents leaving him at a young age, he wanted to make sure his victims could never leave and do the same thing to him.. He came home one day and the whole family was gone...around age 12 or so I think, I’d have to go look it up. Weird stuff...