TRACY, Calif. — Relatives of a Sunday school teacher arrested in the killing of an 8-year-old girl found stuffed into a suitcase said Sunday they are baffled by the accusations against the woman they know as a loving, single parent.
"I just can't comprehend. There are no words," said Brian Lawless, the father of 28-year-old Melissa Huckaby, who is being held in San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Sandra Cantu.
Lawless met with reporters outside Clover Road Baptist Church in Tracy, where the family held Easter services. The church is just down the road from the mobile home park where Sandra lived and was last seen.
Huckaby's grandfather, Clifford Lawless, who is pastor of the church, and others offered prayers for Sandra's family.
Some churchgoers cried as Huckaby's uncle, 45-year-old Brett Lawless of Lakewood, gave a sermon preaching that faith was the only way to weather hardship.
"How can you look at a circumstance like this and have any hope for the future? I tell you, because I know who God is," he said.
Huckaby's relatives said they still do not know why police searched the church or why investigators suspect her of the crime.
Investigators searched the church last week after police said Sandra's body was found in Huckaby's suitcase in an irrigation pond.
Brian Lawless said Huckaby lived for her 5-year-old daughter, Madison.
"She just always had an extra patience with her. Never raised her voice. Never yelled. Never struck her," he said. "She was that same way with other children. She loved other children."
Madison played often with Sandra, who lived down the street from where Huckaby lived with her grandfather. Huckaby taught Sunday school at her grandfather's church.
Huckaby was on suicide watch at the county jail, where she remained in custody Sunday without bail.
Huckaby's uncle, John Hughes Jr. of Whittier, told The Associated Press his niece was from a good home, but had hit a rough patch in her life and had moved in with her grandparents in Tracy to get past her troubles.
"They opened their home up to her to try to get her life back on track. I think a lot of families have problems like that," Hughes said.
