By Justin Lafferty
Tracy Press
April 25, 2009
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Melissa Huckaby, accused of killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, has been linked to two house fires when she lived in Southern California in 2007.
Evelyn Lloyd, Huckaby's roommate for eight months, said in a phone interview today from Southern California that police should look more closely at Huckaby's involvement in the two fires that damaged the four-bedroom house they shared in La Palma.
Orange County Superior Court records show that Lloyd, 47, was charged with a felony count of arson on July 19, 2007. She spent 10 days in jail and was placed on suicide watch. The case against her was later dismissed.
La Palma police Capt. Jim Enright said today that Huckaby was considered a person of interest in two fires set at a home where she lived in 2007.
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| Melissa Huckaby / San Joaquin County Jail booking mug |
Citing a gag order placed on the murder case by San Joaquin County Judge Linda Lofthus, Enright declined to comment further. Huckaby is in jail and stands accused of Sandra's murder, kidnapping and rape with a foreign object.
The first fire broke out on July 19 and the other was eight days later — while Lloyd was in jail.
Lloyd said she suspected Huckaby and also their landlord, Judy Minchey.
"I was living in this lady's house for 12 years, and I knew the personality and the makeup of the people," she said. "All this stuff started happening when Melissa moved into the house."
No charges were ever filed against Huckaby or Minchey, who could not be reached for comment.
After the first fire, Lloyd said, police found a baby's bottle with gasoline, a threatening letter and newspapers stuffed in the side window of her first-story room.
"Either she (Huckaby) wanted my bedroom, or she blackmailed the landlord and it got too out of whack, because six days after I was locked up, the landlord's house was on fire," said Lloyd.
According to Lloyd, the fire that happened while she was in jail started in the living room. Authorities said the two fires caused nearly $90,000 in damages.
Ten days earlier, Lloyd said she was served with an eviction notice because Minchey felt her attitude was unacceptable. That day, Lloyd said she found that all of her electrical cords were cut. The next day, she said her clothes were bleached. That Wednesday, Lloyd said she found written in big, blue letters on her bedroom door, "Get out of here, n
r!"
After this happened, she said La Palma police only questioned Minchey, not Huckaby.
Lloyd said police pointed to her attitude, military experience and the fact that she had sent her 13-year-old daughter to live with a babysitter in Los Angeles 10 days earlier as evidence that she had committed the arson. Her landlord also implicated her, she said.
"(Minchey) said I walked in the house, I lit the curtains, ran into the burning house, closed my door and waited for the police to come rescue me," Lloyd said. "They said that I looked like I set it up the whole week and did all that stuff to myself."
Lloyd estimated that 25 or 30 women lived in the house at different times but were driven out by Minchey's odd rules and strict attitude.
One day, Lloyd said, she and Huckaby talked about how the landlord insisted clothes had to be washed in Tide detergent. She said she's sure Minchey overheard her suggest that Huckaby could buy cheaper soap and pour it into a Tide bottle.
Like Lloyd, Huckaby had a daughter living in the home. The two initially bonded as Lloyd showed her how to survive in what she described a "toxic" environment.
"When Melissa moved in, I befriended her," Lloyd said. "I told her the landlord only has one motive (to make money). So I became a mother hen to her. I felt like I had to wrap my arms around her and protect her."
Lloyd said this whole ordeal has turned her life upside down. Before this, she considered herself a good role model, a medical courier who was a veteran of Desert Storm. Now she said her reputation has been damaged.
"I want justification; I want to be vindicated on all levels," Lloyd said. "I'm so numb about it because my life is finally getting back on track."
•Contact Tracy Press reporter Justin Lafferty at 830-4269 or jlafferty@tracypress.com.
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