DA: Rape May Be Alleged in Calif. Girl's Slaying

This undated cell phone photo provided by the family shows Melissa Huckaby. Huckaby, 28, remained in...

This undated cell phone photo provided by the family shows Melissa Huckaby. Huckaby, 28, remained in custody Sunday April 12, 2009 at the San Joaquin County Jail in California. She was being held without bail on suspicion of murder and kidnapping of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. (AP Photo/Connie Lawless)

(AP)

Prosecutors said Monday they may include rape and molestation allegations in their murder charge against the woman suspected of killing an 8-year-old Northern California girl and putting her body in a suitcase.

Melissa Huckaby, a 28-year-old Sunday school teacher, was arrested Friday on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering Sandra Cantu.

Formal charges have not yet been filed, but San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Robert Himmelblau said a murder charge against Huckaby could include the special circumstances of rape with a foreign object, lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and murder in the course of a kidnapping.

A conviction on any of the special circumstances would make Huckaby eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole, Himmelblau said. The district attorney's office has not determined whether it will seek the death penalty, he said.

Sandra disappeared on March 27. A massive search ensued and pictures of her were posted all over Tracy, a city of 78,000 people about 60 miles east of San Francisco. On April 6, Sandra's body was found in a suitcase by farmworkers draining an irrigation pond a few miles from her home.

Huckaby lived with her grandparents five doors down from Sandra. The little girl was a playmate of Huckaby's 5-year-old daughter, Madison.

Police have not said how, where or why Sandra was killed, and Himmelblau wouldn't provide details on any evidence leading prosecutors to consider the sexual assault allegations.

"I was hoping that wasn't the case," Sandra's aunt, Angie Chavez, said through tears. "I'm in shock. The whole thing is unimaginable."

Huckaby is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in Stockton. A decision on which, if any, special circumstances to include in the charges has not been made, Himmelblau said.

Huckaby remained in custody without bail at the San Joaquin County Jail, where jail staff have been monitoring her mental health. She has not been allowed visitors.