LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The woman accused of the kidnap, rape and murder of an 8-year-old California girl has yet to enter a plea in three court appearances.So, the prosecutor wants the judge to enter a plea for her Friday if she refuses to answer to charges again.
Melissa Huckaby, 28, is charged in connection with the death of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.
Sandra disappeared March 27 and her body was found April 6, stuffed in a suitcase submerged in an irrigation pond near the Northern California town of Tracy.
If the Sunday-school teacher does not enter a plea, Judge Linda Lufthus must enter a not-guilty plea for her so the case can move along, San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Thomas Testa told Lufthus in court papers filed Monday. He also wants the judge to set a preliminary hearing date.
At Huckaby's last court appearance on May 22, public defender Sam Behar told the judge he needed more time to review 1,000 pages of evidence he had just received from new charges filed against Huckaby a day before.
The charges of kidnapping, rape and murder include three special circumstance accusations that make Huckaby eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
In addition, she is charged with child endangerment and furnishing a harmful substance in the drugging of another 7-year-old girl and a man, both of whom survived, in the months before Sandra was murdered.
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