Warning: This story contains graphic and disturbing content, and may not be suitable for all readers.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Victoria Martens, the 10-year-old New Mexico girl who was allegedly raped and killed as her mother watched, was strangled to death on her birthday before her remains were mutilated last August, according to a newly released autopsy report.
The autopsy, obtained by Albuquerque television station KOAT on Tuesday, also revealed a number of other disturbing details in the horrific and heartbreaking case.
The autopsy was conducted two days after she was killed, but the report was not released until months after the girl’s death. The report took longer than normal because of the state of the victim’s body, the medical examiner’s office told KOAT.
According to the report, Victoria’s body showed signs of sexual abuse prior to her death. She also tested positive for human papillomavirus — also known as HPV — a sexually transmitted disease.
After being strangled, her body was dismembered and burned. She was found to have multiple abrasions and contusions to her head and neck, and her spine had been fractured.
Some of her organs, including her heart, had been removed from the body, and were found in a plastic bag in a laundry basket at the crime scene, according to the report.
(The autopsy report contains extremely graphic and disturbing details. The full report can be found by clicking here.)
Michelle Martens — Victoria’s mother — previously told investigators that the child was given meth to “calm her down.” But toxicology tests showed no evidence of drugs, according to the report. However, the tests did reveal that she had enough alcohol in her system to “cause cognitive and physical impairment.”
Martens is one of three people charged in her daughter’s killing. The other two are the mother’s boyfriend, Fabian Gonzales, and his cousin, Jessica Kelley.
Michelle Martens is seen after she was arrested following her daughter’s killing on Aug. 24, 2016. (Credit: KOAT)
According to the criminal complaint, Gonzales raped Victoria before she was strangled and stabbed.
As Martens watched, Kelley “held her hand over” Victoria’s mouth during the sexual assault, the complaint said. According to the document, “Michelle stated she watched this … happen for sexual gratification.”
Victoria had begged them to stop as she was being tortured, according to police documents. But Martens allegedly continued to watch and did nothing while her daughter was being killed.
Gonzales also told investigators that he had sex with Victoria “shortly after the child was deceased,” according to a search warrant.
During an eight-hour interview with police, Michelle Martens told investigators that Gonzales raped Victoria daily the month before her killing, according to television station KOB in Albuquerque, which obtained a portion of the transcripts.
Martens had allegedly previously arranged for other men to sexually assault her daughter, and Victoria was victimized by two other men in the six months before her death.
No other arrests have been made in the case, KOAT reported Wednesday.
All three defendants have entered not guilty pleas on various charges, and remain behind bars pending their trials later this year.
