Ten-year-old Victoria Martens’ body was found burnt and partially dismembered in a bathtub in an apartment in Albuquerque, NM in late August. The child had been raped, stabbed and set on fire. Officers were alerted to the scene after receiving a noise disturbance call. Three adults were found in the residence including Michelle Martens, Victoria’s mother. Michelle, her boyfriend Fabian Gonzales and his cousin Jessica Kelley were all arrested.
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Sisi Miranda, a veteran detective and founder of the Albuquerque Police Department’s child abuse task force spoke with a local television station to give her thoughts on the gruesome case. Miranda believes that the child suffered from prior abuse and that the mother, Michelle, was manipulated by predators. Miranda profiled each of the suspects saying that she thinks Fabian Kelley is most likely a sexual deviant who was probably abused herself as a child. She believes Kelley’s cousin Fabian Gonzales likely grew up in the same circumstances.
Miranda said she considers the mother to be different than the others, but not better. “I think Michelle probably is leading a double-life,” she said. Miranda believes that the two cousins preyed on Michelle and her daughter because they were vulnerable and then used methamphetamines to control them. Michelle had met Fabian only a month prior to the violent murder of her daughter.
She went on to say that the abuse that Victoria suffered “was likely fueled by a horrifying combination of meth and zero sleep between the three.” Miranda theorized that Victoria was likely acting different in the weeks leading up to her death and that if anyone noticed, it wasn’t reported. She urged the public to always report their concerns to the police if they believe a child is in distress, saying that the embarrassment of being wrong has far less consequences than being right and not reporting it.