Huckaby linked to SoCal arson case
Apr 22, 2009 | 10108 views | 45 
| 23 
| 
| 
| 23 | |
Melissa Huckaby / San Joaquin County Jail booking mug
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.
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.
We encourage your online comments in this public forum, but please keep them respectful and constructive. This is not a forum for personal attacks, libelous statements, profanity or racist slurs. Readers may report such inappropriate comments by e-mailing the editor at tpnews@tracypress.com.
Behind all of these things that happened to me I myself became an alcoholic, spent three years as a meth addict and survived many abusive relationships but I removed myself from the environment and chose my life and the lives of my children over my childhood pain and found a beautiful man and a life I am now very proud of. So I know first hand that when people try to excuse their actions using "society" and "their living environment" that's all it is, an excuse. I grew up in the projects of L.A. as a child through my teenage years and I chose not to get involved in the gang life that was offered to me. I did however start drinking at a young age but the meth didn't start til my late 20's and I thank God didn't last long. Because of my youngest daughters biological father bringing drugs into my home she overdosed and almost died at 9 months old. I know there are people who have had much more difficult lives than myself but my experiences and pain are my own and my heart does sincerely go out to any woman who has experienced childhood tramas that have turned their lives into shambles. I try not to make quick judgments on anyone but there are people's ignorant comments that I have had to deal with on this sight (not including MOF or FSW) that have seriously p'd me off and they don't seem to have any right to judge others or their opinions because their comments make them sound extrememly uneducated. People just shouldn't throw stones.
Thank you both for sharing your horrible experiences. If you have not already healed from these things you are definatley on your way to healing and I pray for you both.......
I recall being at my step-mother's house in 1994. I was lamenting over my frustration with a cousin who was the same age as me. She chose to become a meth addict, and to expose her daughter to that lifestyle. Her daughter quit attending school regularly in junior high, had a drug issue, a couple of children, a boyfriend who just got out of prison, and is on public assistance.
I was very angry with my cousin, because of her choices, and my step-mother said something then that not only hit home, but revealed itself to be very true later. My cousin and I had come from similar beginnings, and both were sexually assaulted before we were 18, I had something that my cousin did not. I had the live-in presence of my maternal grandmother. My cousin also had a different experience with the sexual assualt. She was raped by her step-father on a daily basis from the time she was nine, and her mother knew. When the child-rape finally became public knowledge, she was forced to attend incest classes with the perp (as if she had a choice, and had chosen to have sex with him). The man was not jailed for that, though he did end up going to prison for something else, where he remained for 25 years. He recently got out. I was raped by a family friend when I was 14.
I assumed that it was my cousin's choice of lifestyle, but she and I had different experiences. I had that one person in my life that statistics refer to. The one person who made a difference. I also had a strength that my cousin did not. Her strength was taken from her when she was broken by her step-father at 9.
While I am the last one to make excuses for anyone harming a child, I can tell you that the drug and public assistance lifestyle is typically a default for people who have these types of experiences. To break free from that is exceptional, rather than the rule. One has to have the hope and belief that they can, then put in the hard work, while maintaining focus on the long-term goal. Not everyone has the capacity to overcome such adversity. It depends on the individual, and I believe that also depends on that individual's influences, such as one supportive person they can turn to.
Kudos to you and gypsy for your perseverance and success.
Oh...my cousin... a couple of years ago she called me. She was in trouble. She said that she wanted to change her life, she was sick. She came to my house, lived with me for 2 years, attended NA, has been clean and sober since arriving here. She recently got her own place, and is doing well. She went back to school, and completed high school. She is in the process of enrolling in college classes for the coming fall. Perhaps most importantly, she is now an example to her daughter.
I agree that the family has to know about MH's history, and likely more (thoughts, comments, actions) that we'll never know . Former acquaintances give conflicting statements - early on, one said she was fine in high school, quiet, on dance team, etc - then it came out that she'd been raped, was moody (not so bad by itself), grew angry in an instant, got kicked off dance team, etc. And now this about the fires. Moving in with her grandparents (patri/matriarchs of the family) was likely a last attempt/chance to help her - surely they knew she was unstable/unpredictable, but doubt any thought she'd do something so bad (though likely wondered what she might do next). Her life sounds like an escalation of inner turmoil (not making excuses for her) - she could/should have gotten help, but unless she and her family were willing for her to open up about all that (may have) happened to her, and all she did/thought about doing, no one could have helped her.
I didn't read about the "deer in headlights" stare when neighbors came around about the fire, but that is freaky (maybe she was tweeked on psychotropics or in some kind of fugue state).
Here is a story about Lawless being questioned about an abuse case 10 years ago:
http://www.khq.com/global/story.asp?s=10242772
It doesn't say he was involved, but was questioned about it. I get the heebies thinking about that small "close-knit" (family members only?) church - hard to believe they had Easter service there after it's probable that Sandra was killed there.
I too have lived in the ghetto growing up, my family was even been homeless at one point, living family members and in battered woman shelters with my mother, and ghetto motels, ect... Since I've had my own children, I've done everything and anything in my power to take care of them to the best of my ability, and to ensure they would never grow up in the unsafe and unhealthy environments I did... And I've succeeded thus far and my kids are now 14 and 12. I too am educated, I have a career, live in a beautiful home, have a great car, and I’ve never been arrested or in trouble with the law, and my kids are doing well in school... And I do this all by myself...
When one grows up in situations/neighborhoods like we did, you can either choose to continue on that same road, or choose to make something better of yourself, and live a better life. And that’s what it sounds like you and I both did...Again I apologize if I offended you or anyone else, but I've been there.
But that would be one of the less surprising things here if true. I wouldn't consider that surprising or shocking.
I am an educated, tax paying citizen that has had some problems in my past due to a rough childhood but that doesn't mean I'm gonna go out and set fires, burglarize stores or violate and kill a child.
There are plenty violent crimes committed in upper class communities. We probably don't hear about them as often because people with money to throw around can pay who they have to, to keep things hush, hush......
You have made some very good points about these subjects...
It looks to me like trailer parks, mobile home parks, 'projects' or as some call it 'affordable housing', and 'some' apartment complexes as the same... They are usually priced where lower income families, elderly on fixed incomes, and unfortunately ghetto trashy people living on welfare reside (not saying everyone on welfare is ghetto or trashy). And its unfortunate that the struggling families and elderly get caught in the crossfire of the ghetto trash and it gives living environments such as mobile home parks ect. bad names... I’m not saying they are all bad… But no matter what kind of neighborhood you live in whether it's a trailer, a motel room, a home, or a 'mcmansion'(shelly13, lol), There are demons everywhere! So we need no focus on the 'mobile home' aspect of this case, it has no relevance.
Just like any neighborhood there will be some type of crime committed.
Down the street where I live is a park, mostly seniors, quiet and clean park. You would never think nothing bad. Well, a elderly man shot his neighbor elderly woman in the head because her little dog would not stop from barking. He said he had this problem and told the lady about it many times before he just killed her.
So this doesn't mean trialer parks are bad or even ghetto. They are nice to live in just like any other place. There are murders in very nice neighborhoods more than you know.
Others from outside Tracy read these blogs. They might base their opinions of Tracy residents by what they read here.
Everyone in Tracy is angry for what MH (allegedly) did to Sandra. So am I.
There is nothing but hate comments submited in the blogs dealing with MH. This is what others are going to have to make their decisions about the city of Tracy.
Read the following, especially the end.
His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it,
jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire
four years of college.
He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a
Christian while attending college.
Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.
One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair.. The service has already started and so
Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.
The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now,
people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.
Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he
realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.
By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is
thick.
About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the
church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill.
Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a
three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very
courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this
boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what
he's going to do.
How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?
It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy.
The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane.
All eyes are focused on him.. You can't even hear anyone breathing. The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.
And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With
great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and
worships with him so he won't be alone.
Everyone chokes up with emotion.
When the minister gains control, he says,
'What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.'
'Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will
ever read!'
Who cares if it was a manufactured home or a tralier? I mean they did not live in a mcmansion where she had her own wing and they hardly saw each other. Maybe people are jst getting tired of the lame trailer park comments.
In response to police criticism there actually was an arrest in this arson case so the cops did something at least.