Hundreds attend service for 10-year-old who was injected with meth, raped and murdered ‘as her mother watched’
Victoria was found strangled, stabbed and dismembered by police on her 10th birthday
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Your support makes all the difference.Hundreds of mourners attended a memorial service in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday for a 10-year-old girl who was drugged, raped and brutally murdered while under her mother’s watch two months ago.
Victoria Martens was found by police on her 10th birthday after being called to the family’s apartment over noise disturbance. Officers found the child’s dismembered body in a burning blanked in the bathroom. She had been injected with meth, raped, strangled and stabbed.
Mother Michelle Martens, 35, her boyfriend Fabian Gonzales, 31, and his cousin Jessica Kelley have been charged in connection with Victoria’s death.
Many members of the community attended the emotional memorial service for Victoria at the Copper Pointe Church, from the authorities to her neighbours. A number of attendees wore purple, Victoria's favourite colour, in tribute, and doves were released after the service outside.
“Just as she was looking for other children to play with, in many ways, she may be looking for ways for her and many of us community leaders to try t protect more children,” Hector Balderas, New Mexico Attorney General, said at the service, ABC7 reported.
Godmother Laura Bobbs spoke of when she first met Victoria: “And so, she knocked on my door that morning and said: ‘Excuse me, My name is Victoria.’ I said, ‘Well, aren’t you a cute little thing? Where’d you come from?’ She had little pig tails. She says, ‘I’m new in the neighbourhood, but do you have any kids I can play with?’”
Martens reportedly told police she had searched for men online and at work to sexually assault Victoria while she watched, which she said she enjoyed and had not undertaken for money. She also claimed Gonzalez had raped Victoria every day for a month before her death.
Albuquerque police chief Gorden Eden Jr called the murder “the most gruesome act of evil I have ever seen in my career".
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