Victoria Martens: Mother 'sat back and watched' as daughter was drugged, raped and murdered
Police chief describes crime as 'the most gruesome act of evil I have ever seen in my career'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A mother has admitted she sat back and watched as her boyfriend and his cousin raped and murdered her 10-year-old daughter, according to police.
Michelle Martens was arrested along with her partner Fabian Gonzales and Jessica Kelley after officers found the body of Jessica Martens wrapped in a burning blanket in a bathtub at her home in Alberquerque, New Mexico.
The claims emerged in police interviews obtained by TV station KRQE with all three suspects charged with the murder.
Police say Martens initially told two different stories making her out to be innocent, before she cracked after hours of interviewing.
She first claimed she and Gonzales had been attacked by convicted rapist Kelley during the night, and had no idea what had happened to daughter Victoria.
“Jessica comes into our bedroom and asks me if I believe in God,” she said. “She kept hitting me, hitting me, hitting me, punching.”
She then changed her story, telling police she and Gonzales had gone out, leaving Victoria at home with Kelley.
Her daughter took methamphetamines, she said, and later died. Gonzales and Kelley then disposed of the body and threatened to kill her if she spoke out.
Police, doubting both stories, convinced Martens that her boyfriend was in another interrogation room revealing everything. At that point she admitted to watching the murder, saying she “let them do it”, according to KOB.
She told officers “Jessica was stabbing her”, then Kelley and Gonzalez started “cutting her arms”.
According to KRQE, a detective asked her: “This time she died and you weren’t ready for the type of animals these people were?”
Martens replied: “Yes, but I should have stopped it.”
Authorities concluded that Victoria has been injected with methamphetamines before being raped, strangled and stabbed.
Mertens allegedly told officers she was given the drug to calm her down before she was raped by Gonzales and stabbed in the stomach by Kelley.
Court documents also allege Martens then had sex with her boyfriend 20 minutes after her daughter's stabbing.
Martens said it all happened on the afternoon of 23 August after her daughter had returned from school.
All three “acted as if nothing had happened”, even having dinner together that evening before police found the body the following day.
Police were also told that Martens had previously watched a number of men sexually assault her daughter because she enjoyed it. She searched for them at work and on online dating sites.
She claimed Gonzales had raped her daughter every day for a month before the day of the murder.
Gonzales initially told a similar story about him and Martens being attacked by his cousin Kelley. He later changed it, saying he found Kelley with Victoria’s corpse and helped her dispose of the body.
Kelley asked police what evidence they had, and demanded a lawyer.
Albuquerque police chief, Gorden Eden Jr, described the murder as “the most gruesome act of evil I have ever seen in my career".