ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The mother of Victoria Martens, the 10-year-old girl who was brutally killed last month in New Mexico, had allegedly arranged for other men to sexually assault her daughter in the past, according to search warrants obtained by an Albuquerque television station.
Michelle Martens told police she made arrangements with at least two men to have sex with Victoria, and “possibly the other minor child who resides at the residence,” KOAT reported Wednesday, citing the warrant. Martens also had an 8-year-old son.
She allegedly contacted some of the men through Plenty of Fish, the same online dating website where she met her boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, according to the station. The pair had been dating for about a month before the killing.
Martens told investigators she allowed another man she met online and one she met at work to rape her daughter, according to the warrant. She said she could tell if a man was interested in having sex with children through “signs” and “things” they did, KOAT reported.
Victoria Martens, a fourth-grader, was killed last month, one day after she turned 10. Her mother, along with Gonzales and his cousin, Jessica Kelley, have all been charged in the case.
Martens told police her daughter was given methamphetamine “to calm her down” and that Gonzales had sex with the little girl before Victoria was strangled and stabbed in front of her, according to a criminal complaint obtained by CNN.
Kelley “held her hand over” Victoria’s mouth as Gonzales “committed the sexual act” while Martens watched, the complaint said. According to the document, “Michelle stated she watched this … happen for sexual gratification.”
She allegedly continued to watch and did nothing as her daughter was killed, according to KOAT.
Martens told police it was Gonzales who choked her daughter to death; he denied any involvement in the killing, telling police it was Kelley who stabbed and dismembered Victoria, CNN reported, citing the complaint.
Gonzales told police he had sex with the little girl “shortly after the child was deceased,” according to a separate search warrant obtained by KOAT.
Police discovered Victoria’s body partially wrapped in a burning blanket, inside a bath tub, according to authorities.
Martens has been charged with kidnapping and child abuse resulting in death. Gonzales faces the same charges as well as child rape.
Kelley — who was released from prison four days prior to the homicide — was charged with kidnapping, child abuse resulting in death and child rape.
During Kelley’s court appearance, Judge Chris Schultz said “the crimes … display a depth of depravity that is unfathomable to me.”
Albuquerque police have called the crime “horrific.”
“It’s one of the worst things I’ve read in my entire life,” a spokesman for the department said hours after Victoria was found dead.
