California woman pleads guilty in death of 8-year-old girl whose body was found in suitcase

Calif woman guilty in death of daughter’s playmate

STOCKTON, Calif. — A former California Sunday school teacher accused of killing an 8-year-old playmate of her daughter, then hiding the body in a suitcase, has pleaded guilty to murder.

San Joaquin County Superior Court officials say Melissa Huckaby of Tracy entered the first-degree murder plea Monday morning.

Authorities say Huckaby killed Sandra Cantu, a playmate of her young daughter, in March 2009. A search ended when the girl’s body was found in a black suitcase pulled from an irrigation pond a few miles from the mobile home park where she lived.

Assistant Court Executive Officer Sharon Morris says Huckaby faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole when she is sentenced June 14.