A judge on Thursday sentenced Michelle Martens, 41, to 12 years in prison for her role in the strangulation and dismemberment of her 10-year-old daughter, Victoria Martens, marking the last of three co-defendants put behind bars in the girl’s 2016 death.
The six years that Martens has served at the Metropolitan Detention Center will count toward her sentence, requiring her to serve an additional six years in prison before her release.
The sentencing appears to close the book on one of the most horrific child abuse cases in Albuquerque’s history. Gory details of Victoria’s death and mutilation shocked the public and led to a yearslong investigation that police called one of the most complex they could recall.
Martens pleaded guilty in 2018 to reckless child abuse resulting in the death.
Just two weeks ago, Martens’ former boyfriend and co-defendant, Fabian Gonzales, 38, was sentenced to 37½ years in prison after jurors found him guilty of child abuse resulting in death, seven counts of tampering with evidence and conspiracy for his role in Victoria’s killing.
Gonzales met Michelle Martens on a dating app in July 2016, just weeks before the girl’s Aug. 23, 2016, death.
Gonzales began using drugs in Michelle Martens’ apartment and let his cousin, Jessica Kelley, move in after her release from prison, witnesses testified at trial.
Kelley, 37, pleaded no contest in 2019 to six felony charges, including reckless child abuse resulting in death and other charges in Victoria’s death. She was sentenced in April to 44 years in prison.
