Relatives of slain California 8-year-old Sandra Cantu expressed “shock” Saturday at news that a neighbor — a Sunday school teacher whose daughter was a playmate of Sandra’s — was arrested in the girl’s death.

“Just utter shock and disbelief,” Sandra’s aunt Angie Chavez told CNN affiliate KOVR. “I can’t imagine a mother doing this to a child.”

Melissa Huckaby, 28, was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail early Saturday and faces charges of kidnapping and murder in the death of Sandra in Tracy, California.

Sandra was last seen March 27 in the Tracy mobile home park where she lived with her family — the same mobile home park where Huckaby lives.

The girl’s body was found Monday, stuffed into a suitcase submerged in a pond at a dairy farm.

“We have to live the rest of our lives without Sandra. [Huckaby] is in jail. She can still see her little girl grow up,” Sandra’s uncle, Joe Chavez, told KOVR.

He said the family is “shell-shocked” and hopes that in time they can learn to trust people again.

“Who can you trust at this point?” he said. “Who do you know?”

Huckaby is the granddaughter of Clifford Lane Lawless, pastor at
the Clover Road Baptist Church, which was searched as part of the
investigation, Tracy police Sgt. Tony Sheneman told reporters. Huckaby
taught Sunday school at the church, he said.

In addition, Huckaby’s 5-year-old daughter was close friends with Sandra, who often played at Huckaby’s home.

Earlier Saturday, Sheneman said he did not believe Huckaby had retained an attorney.

Source: CNN.com