Melissa Huckaby

Melissa Huckaby (born February 23, 1981) is a Sunday school teacher and the main villainess behind the kidnapping, rape, and murder of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu.

Melissa was born in Orange County, California, and she lived in a mobile home park where Sandra Cantu and her family also lived. She was also the mother of a young daughter who served as a friend and playmate of Sandra's at some point. Melissa turned heel on the evening of March 27, 2009, when she abducted Sandra and sexually assaulted her with a rolling pin before strangling her to death with a noose. After the rape and murder, Melissa placed Sandra's body inside her suitcase and got rid of her, with the body being found in an irrigation pond on April 6. An autopsy revealed that other than the injuries that befell her, Sandra was also drugged.

Melissa became a suspect after she called police regarding her stolen suitcase, and it was confirmed later on that the suitcase containing Sandra's body did belong to Melissa, leading to her being arrested and charged in the abduction, rape, and murder of Sandra Cantu. The villainous madwoman originally faced the death penalty, as she was also named as the perpetrator behind the druggings of a seven-year-old girl and an adult male. However, on May 10, 2010, Melissa pled guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping of Sandra, and as part of the deal, the other charges were dropped. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on June 14.