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New Mexico 10-Year-Old Victoria Martens: Mother And Two Others Arrested For Her Drugging, Sexual Assault, And Murder [Video]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 08:32 PST, Aug 26, 2016

Albuquerque law enforcement officials are calling the horrific murder of Victoria Martens one of the worst crimes the city has ever seen, and the 10-year-old New Mexico girl’s case is made even worse by the fact that her own mother has been implicated in her death.

Victoria Martens had just turned 10-years-old the day before she was found dead at her family’s apartment. Police were horrified to discover that not only had the 10-year-old girl been killed, she had been forcibly drugged, sexually assaulted, and dismembered.

Victoria Martens’ remains were found early Wednesday morning. The case was brought to the attention of Albuquerque law enforcement when two battered individuals, apparently a couple, fled the scene of what they called an assault against themselves.

Details were sketchy at first, but according to initial reports, the pair claimed to have escaped an unprovoked beating at the hands of a crazed house guest. They reportedly told law enforcement that they had been awakened by their female cousin, who had been staying at the home. It was reported that she asked the bewildered pair if they “believed in god” before beginning to viciously beat them with tools. They told police that they’d managed to flee the scene, but there was still a child in the house.

Police arrived on the scene to discover New Mexico 10-year-old Victoria Martens dead, dismembered, and wrapped in a burning blanket. It was the day the New Mexico 10-year-old was to have had her 10th birthday party.

Neighbors of the little girl, who was described as “happy” and “always smiling” by those who lived in her apartment complex, were shocked and stunned when they heard the news. Initially, police were very tight-lipped about what they’d discovered, not even releasing the girl’s name. At the time that New Mexico law enforcement discovered the remains of 10-year-old Victoria Martens, they also found her alleged killer still at the scene. The woman, who has now been identified as 31-year-old Jessica Kelley, was taken into custody after trying to escape the apartment by jumping from the balcony.

After being arrested, Kelley was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason. She is expected to be incarcerated and charged upon her release.

Later, it was announced that Kelley hadn’t committed the horrific crime alone. As ABC 7 reports, New Mexico 10-year-old Victoria Martens’ mother and the mother’s boyfriend have now also been arrested in connection with the girl’s death, the incomprehensible events that allegedly lead up to it, and the desecration of the murdered 10-year-old girl’s corpse.

Victoria Martens’ mother, 35-year-old Michelle Martens, her 31-year-old boyfriend Fabian Gonzales, and his 31-year-old cousin, Jessica Kelley, are all facing the following charges: child abuse resulting in death, kidnapping, and tampering with evidence. In addition, Kelley and Gonzales are both facing charges of criminal sexual penetration of a minor for the sexual assault that allegedly preceded the death of New Mexico 10-year-old Victoria Martens.

According to Albuquerque law enforcement, Victoria Martens’ last hours were ones of abuse and torture. On Thursday, the Albuquerque Journal made some disturbing details of the brutal killing of New Mexico 10-year-old Victoria Martens public.

Per recently released court documents, officers who responded to the scene of Victoria’s grisly murder found a crimes scene seemingly out of a horror film. Her body was dismembered, her bedroom carpet covered in bloodstains. Some of the 10-year-old New Mexico girl’s remains were found in a laundry hamper in the kitchen. Some were found wrapped in a burning blanket in a bathtub.

Leading up to her death, Victoria Martens’ mother allegedly sat by and watched as her boyfriend forcibly injected the terrified 10-year-old with methamphetamine in order to “calm her down” so that he and Kelley could sexually assault her. Gonzales and Kelley then allegedly proceeded to sexually assault New Mexico 10-year-old Victoria Martens as her mother looked on. Reportedly, her mother told investigators that Jessica Kelley then stabbed the little girl in the stomach while Gonzales strangled her.

Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden Jr. told the media that the crimes against Victoria Martens account for some of the worst he’s ever seen.

“This homicide is the most gruesome act of evil I have ever seen in my career. A complete disregard of human life.”

As he was being taken out of the police station on Wednesday afternoon, Fabian Gonzales reportedly yelled at the media that he had nothing to do with 10-year-old Victoria Martens’ death. Victoria’s mother opted to remain silent as she too was escorted from the station to an awaiting police vehicle.

Reports are now coming in that both Fabian Gonzales and Jessica Kelley have disturbing criminal histories. Reportedly, Kelley’s criminal history dates back over a decade to 2003. In 2012, she allegedly acted as a lookout while a fellow female inmate raped a developmentally disabled female inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

In that instance, the alleged murderer of Victoria Martens pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit criminal sexual penetration in the second degree.

Fabian Gonzales’ New Mexico record goes back to 2004 and allegedly includes a felony child abuse charge. He reportedly also had two outstanding warrants out of South Carolina at the time that he allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered 10-year-old Victoria Martens. He also pleaded no contest to child abandonment in 2015, and friends, neighbors, and loved ones of Victoria Martens are wondering why Gonzales wasn’t more aggressively monitored by the legal system and if doing so might have saved Victoria’s life.

The Albuquerque community, in its collective shock and disgust, has rallied around the memory of Victoria Martens. A makeshift memorial immediately sprung up for the girl, and the community turned a candlelight vigil into a belated, posthumous birthday party for the murdered 10-year-old on Thursday evening at her apartment complex, reports KRQE.

Another vigil, reportedly attended by hundreds, was held at Civic Plaza. At that event, the mayor spoke in Victoria Martens’ honor. Smaller vigils reportedly took place all over New Mexico on Thursday night as the state grappled with the senseless torture and murder of the fourth grader.

Bail for the mother and her boyfriend allegedly responsible for the death and dismemberment of New Mexico 10-year-old Victoria Martens has been set at $1 million each. Jessica Kelley has reportedly been released from the hospital and jailed and is expected to be officially charged soon.

[Image via t Martens Family]

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