Politics & Government
Man Will Stand Trial for 1977 Murder of Teen Mom, Whose Infant was Left Propped on Her Body
The baby girl was found laying against her 17-year-old mother's body in the attack two days after Christmas, 1977.
A Northern California man was ordered Wednesday to stand trial for the heinous 1977 slaying of a teenage mother, who was found dead in Long Beach two days after Christmas--her infant propped against her body.
Long Beach Superior Court Judge Jesse Rodriguez found sufficient evidence to require Martell Nathaniel Chubbs, 53, of Antioch, to proceed to trial in connection with the Dec. 27, 1977, slaying of the 17-year-old girl. Her baby daughter was not wounded.
The coroner's office determined that the teenager -- who was identified only as ``Shelley H.'' -- but also found superficial stab wounds, according to the District Attorney's Office.
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Her 13-month-old daughter was not wounded.
Long Beach police detectives linked Chubbs to the cold case murder by submitting DNA taken at the time of the autopsy into a database that stores DNA information from federal, state and local crime labs, authorities said.
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Chubbs was arrested Aug. 23 by Long Beach police. The murder charge initially included the special circumstance allegations of murder during the commission of a rape and burglary that could have made him eligible for the death penalty, but an amended complaint subsequently filed did not include those allegations. Chubbs is due back in court Nov. 28 for arraignment.